Your past is what makes you
by amybos
Summary: She continued to live her life as best as she could after her brother was lost in the ice. A super Soldier like him, but with a unique gift. Follow Steve's sister as spent 70 years trying to live without him but they finally find Steve.
1. Chapter 1

She continued to live her life as best as she could after her brother was lost in the ice. A super Soldier like him, but with a unique gift. Follow Steve's sister as spent 70 years trying to live without him but they finally find Steve.

She fought against the multiple men who came at he at full force but for training purposes. Her movements were fluid that you could barely see what her next movement was.

Once all men were lying on the ground, she smiled then helped them all up.

"Quite impressive. It's like you could do that in your sleep."

She smiled at the comment knowing exactly who it was, "Thanks guys. We're done for today." She turned around, "Well, I probably could. Been at this for so long, but you already know are you doing here Coulson?" She asked as she walked up to him.

"Well I'm glad you asked. But first, I have to ask, you have trained for hours and you still have energy?"

She laughed, "And I taught mixed martial arts classes before that. That's what happens when you're a super soldier. Too much energy"

"Wow!" He paused, then got all serious, "We need your help and just not with training"

"Sounds bad, what is it Coulson?"

"Barton has been compromised and…" he paused. "They found him… and he is on his way to also help us"

She looked at him in disbelief, "What do you mean found him? When? How?" She had been waiting for any news on her brother for a long time now.

Coulson smiled, "Yes, I was quite surprised myself. Now if you come with me, I will take you to see him and so we can help Barton."

She was frozen in place, "Really, they found him?"

"Yes" Coulson answered.

She smiled, "What are we waiting for? Let's go" she said as she grabbed her belongings and followed Coulson out of the gym.

Sometime later she was standing at the window waiting for when the Quinjet would land. She didn't have to wait too long, as soon as she saw it she smiled and quickly made her way to the deck.

"Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers," Coulson introduced the two, nodding at Steve. There was still a bit of a fanboy in Coulson at the moment, and it made the corner of Natasha's mouth tilt up in amusement.

"Hi." Natasha glanced at Steve once, checking him over, before turning her attention to Coulson.

Natasha turned to Coulson, "They need you on the bridge; they're starting the face-trace."

"See you there." Coulson shot one last look at both of them before heading across the deck, heading to the inside of the Helicarrier.

Natasha managed to shoot a small smile at Steve. "It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice," Natasha said as the pair started across the deck. "I thought Coulson was going to swoon."

"Steve!"

Steve stopped dead in their tracks and looks ahead.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing, his sister in front of him after being separated after 70 years.

"Sonya", he said in disbelief, "how are you here? It's been…"

"70 years since we have seen each other. I can't believe you're here" she said as she ran to him and hugged him tight.

Steve pulled back a bit to look at her. "How are you here? Please tell me you didn't"

"I did, to help you but never got the chance. I'm so glad that they found you"

Steve smiled at her and hugged her again, "I'm so glad that you're here"

Natasha cleared her throat, "sorry to interrupt but we need to keep moving"

Both Sonya and Steve nodded and continued walking, "We'll catch up later" Sonya said as she bumped his shoulder with hers.

"Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Sonya asked.

"Trading cards?" Steve repeated as he glanced at Sonya.

"They're vintage," the red headed assassin explained, shrugging casually as she looked ahead. "He's very proud."

"And protective," Sonya added, nodding as she recalled seeing the cards in their glass cases in Coulson's office. "You don't screw with Coulson's trading cards."

Steve just shot her a look before glancing ahead, pausing when he noticed a man whose picture he had been looking at less than an hour ago. "Doctor Banner," Steve called over, taking several steps forward. Sonya stayed behind; she stood next to Natasha as she watched Steve introduced himself to Bruce Banner.

"I bet you still can't believe he is here now.," the Russian spy noted once Steve was out of earshot. Natasha raised an eyebrow, glancing at Sonya before looking at Steve.

"You have no idea, knowing your own brother was lost for over 70 years, I never thought I would see him ever again. Alive anyway." Sonya replied, shooting Natasha a smile.

Natasha smiled back.

Natasha and Sonya looked back at the guys just as the man Steve had greeted took a step forward, glancing at Natasha a bit warily before turning his attention to Sonya.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name," Doctor Banner mentioned, looking her over. Sonya had recognised him instantly. She had seen photos of him before.

Sonya put a pleasant smile on her face and held out a hand as she replied, "Agent Rogers. It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Banner."

"Rogers? As in…" he paused.

Sonya smiled, "Yes, Steve is my brother"

Bruce nodded slowly before glancing back at Steve. "Must be strange for you, all of this," he mentioned, glancing around at the Helicarrier.

Steve gave a small smile. "Well… this is actually kind of familiar," the super soldier admitted easily.

Natasha stepped forward. "Gentlemen. You might want to step inside in a minute," she advised, nodding over to the edge of the Helicarrier. "It's going to get a little hard to breathe." Natasha almost sounded faintly amused.

"Flight crew, secure the deck…" the PA system called out. The deck of the Helicarrier exploded into action, and the group watched the organised chaos around them as planes were strapped down and everything else was prepared for what Sonya and Natasha knew was coming.

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked, glancing over at Sonya before looking out on the water.

Bruce, meanwhile, appeared to have been put into a state of absolute disbelief. "Really?" he demanded, exchanging a look with Steve. "They want me in a submerged, pressurised, metal container?"

"Wrong direction," Sonya replied, her tone taking a slightly sing song quality to it, ignoring Steve's startled look at the realisation hit him. She remained with Natasha as the two men stepped forward, heading over to the edge to watch as the engines slipped from the water to bring the Helicarrier into the sky.

"You okay?" Sonya asked quietly, not moving her gaze from Steve.

"Now's not the time or place, Rogers," Natasha replied, keeping an eye on the two men.

"If this gets ugly, it's the only time and place," Sonya snapped, shooting a quick glare over at her. "Tasha, are you okay?"

The redhead shot the older blonde a serious, hard look. "I'll talk to you later," Natasha promised after a few short, tense beats. Sonya sighed, knowing it was better than nothing as she nodded, turning her attention back to the two men.

"Oh no. This is much worse," Bruce said loudly over the engines. The doctor was looking more and more uncomfortable the more time he spent at SHIELD. Sonya barely managed to catch his words, but she knew that Natasha did.

Natasha squeezed Sonya's shoulder. "Let's go," she murmured, her voice almost inaudible over the whirl of the engines. The red head took off after that, heading towards the doors across the deck. Sonya took a few steps to follow, glancing back at the boys, who were still staring in amazement over the edge as the Helicarrier began to rise.

"You boys coming?" Sonya called, shooting them a confident grin as they both looked over. Sonya paused as she looked at Steve directly, shrugging slightly. She followed Natasha after that, catching up to her fellow spy a moment later.

The super soldier was barely able to hold back a grin, though he did catch the surprised look Banner had. "Coming" Steve replied, his voice barely a whisper as he followed.

The four made their way off the deck of the Helicarrier and into the command centre. A number of SHIELD personal nodded at Sonya and Natasha, and she caught more than a few awed stares directed towards not only herself but Steve too, along with a few fearful ones directed at Bruce. She and Natasha led the super soldier and the scientist onto into the commander centre, and Sonya couldn't hold back the confident little half smile that came over her.

She hadn't been in her element like this in a long while. Not only had she trained Clint and Natasha for crisis, for high risk and dangerous missions, and this was about as high risk and dangerous as it could be. Sonya had disappeared into Agent Rogers of SHIELD.

As Sonya, all she would be able to do would be worry about Clint but as Agent Rogers, as Psych, she could do something. It was just a matter of finding Clint.

The command centre was abuzz with activity, but Sonya didn't focus on any of it. Instead, she kept an eye on Banner and Steve in particular, though the super soldier admittedly was taking more of his attention. The look on his face could only be described as stunned, and Rogers only smirked as he looked around, staring in amazement.

She was able to read the nervousness surrounding Banner though. Didn't even need to use your abilities. Sonya could have caught the nervous glances he shot the guards in the back if she had been blindfolded, but as far as she knew, there wasn't anything she was going to be able to do help him.

For a few moments, as the chaos surrounding her got louder, Sonya let her mind drift, even as she slowly moved towards the middle of the command centre, sticking halfway between Natasha and Steve.

Sonya didn't speak as she stood a bit behind Fury, just keeping her eye on everything. There was a tenser atmosphere than normal in the command centre. Working at SHIELD was never easy, but everyone seemed to realise how dangerous that this could be.

Sonya just closed her eyes as the engineers and operators chatted around her. She opened them a moment later, meeting Natasha's eyes and giving the redhead a weak smile. Natasha only nodded, and Sonya made a mental note to make sure that she did speak to Natasha in private at one point. She honestly had no idea how the redhead was handling Barton being compromised.

Given Sonya's suspicions about Natasha and Clint's relationship, the blonde had a strong feeling that Natasha was freaking out just as much as she was. The redhead was just better at hiding it.

Maria Hill's voice cut through Sonya's thoughts a moment later, and Sonya turned her head to look at the brunette. Her eyes met Hill's for a second, and she shot her a brisk nod. It was returned a moment later. Sonya actually had never spent much time with Maria Hill, though she did have the utmost respect for her. She had a ton of respect for anyone who could deal with Fury for extended periods of time.

"All engines operating. SHIELD Emergency Protocol 193.6 in effect." Hill turned back to Fury, shooting him a nod of confirmation. "We are at level, sir."

Fury shot a look of approval at his second in command. "Good. Let's vanish."

Hill turned back to the other agents. "Engage retro-reflection panels."

A different agent nodded at his console. "Reflection panels engaged."

Fury turned back to Bruce and Steve, and Sonya forced herself to pay attention to what was actually happening around her. "Gentlemen."

Sonya watched as Steve stepped forward and handed Fury a ten dollar bill. He didn't say a word before walking forward, almost seeming to head to the large windows in the front of the Helicarrier. Sonya just watched carefully, smirking in bemusement at the act with the ten dollars. She was going to have to ask what that was about later on, when they weren't focusing on trying to save the world.

Fury had gone over to talk to Bruce, and Sonya just watched as Steve paused at the very front of the command centre, looking out at the ocean below. Sonya bit her lip before walking forward, carefully making sure that she was looking at Steve, not at the ocean below or the fact that they were so far up in the air.

It wasn't as if Sonya was afraid of heights. She flew constantly due to her time in SHIELD. If she was anything, it was claustrophobic, but that was a whole other can of worms. She was simply just nervous when she was up high, and being on the Helicarrier wasn't any different.

"You look a little startled," Sonya said, smirking as she walked up to him, heading to the front windows of the command centre. Sonya shot a quick nod at Hill as the two passed the agent, and caught the little quirk of the eyebrow that Hill gave.

Steve shook his head, looking partially stunned. "It can fly and turn invisible," he said, shaking his head as he took in the bridge of the Helicarrier. Steve had seen some advanced weaponry during his days fighting HYDRA, but even this was far beyond what he would have been capable of dreaming of. Sonya only smirked as he looked down at her. "I can honestly say I didn't expect that."

"You reacted better than I did. I freaked out for an hour, and Barton never stopped making fun of me for it," she admitted, wondering again if they really were going to be able to find him.

Steve seemed to recognise what was going through her head."We'll find him,Sonya," he promised.

Sonya was taken back, "What do you mean?" She asked.

"I can tell you care about Agent Barton. You trained him didn't you? It happens"

Sonya sighed, "Wow! I'm supposed to be the one where can read people easy, but here you are reading me like an open book. Just like when we were kids."

They stood in silence. She let herself fear for Clint in that moment, for herself and everyone she knew in SHIELD. Everyone she worked with and trained was family to her.

She let that moment disappear a second later. Sonya knew that the fight wasn't over yet, that Barton wasn't lost just yet. She knew that there was so much more that they all had to do.

"I have to get to work." She said walking forward, crossing her arms across her chest as she and Steve made their way over to the computer sets, where Fury, Coulson, Banner, and Natasha were already discussing what their options were at the moment.

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet," Coulson was explaining, shooting a quick look over the super soldier, super agent and the agent, going back to his explanation without missing a beat. "Cell phones, laptops… if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us.

"It's still not going to find them in time," Natasha pointed out. She was leaning down next to a computer, sneaking a peak at the picture of Barton sitting on the computer.

Sonya exchanged a quick, concerned look with Natasha. The redhead was right. There was no way that this Loki would be moving without a plan. SHIELD had no idea what that plan was, and that left them with a huge disadvantage.

They were already at a disadvantage with Barton compromised. Sonya had a feeling that everything was only going to get worse before it got better.

"You have to narrow your field," Bruce explained, frowning slightly as his thought process began. Sonya was amazed at how quickly he had gotten down to business, despite how clearly uncomfortable he was being surrounded by SHIELD agents. "How many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there?" Fury asked. His tone was calm and simple, and Sonya had no doubt that he would get his hands on every spectrometer in the world if it meant they were going to find the Tesseract sooner.

Nick Fury was nothing if not determined.

Bruce nodded, and Sonya could practically see the gears spinning in the scientist's head. "Call every lab you know. Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places."

While the doctor had lost Sonya somewhere around spectrometers, Fury kept his cool, merely nodding at the man. "Do you have somewhere for me to work?" Bruce finally asked, watching Fury carefully.

Fury turned to look at Natasha. "Agent Romanoff? Would you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory, please?" he asked, like it was a request rather than a command.

Natasha stood, nodding once in confirmation before starting her way out of the room, Bruce not far behind her. "You're gonna love it, Doc. We got all the toys."

Fury looked over at Sonya, who raised an eyebrow, her back straightening automatically. Steve glanced at her, and she realized that he was just watching how she was in this type of environment. "Agent Rogers, if you would assist Agent Sitwell with the face-trace?"

"Of course." Sonya shot a quick look at Steve before moving forward, slipping over to the computers and the SHIELD agent in question.

"Hey," Sonya greeted, shooting a quick smile at Sitwell before she sat down next to him.

"Wow! I can't believe you are here…."she just looked at him. "Right, the face trace… You remember how to run a face-trace?" Sitwell asked her, shooting her a quick nod in greeting. SHIELD rarely bothered with pleasantries.

"That's Loki," Sitwell confirmed, nodding once. Sonya's body went even stiffer for a few seconds. She glared at the image of Loki for a few seconds, her hand going into a fist as Sitwell continued, "For right now, we don't have anything. You're looking for Barton."

Sonya looked at her own screen, sighing at the familiar face of her former pupil "We'll find him," she murmured, shaking her head before going back to the face-trace. "We're going to find him."

She checked everything she could think of. Sonya had even messaged Natasha, asking if there was anything that Clint had never told Sonya about, a safe house or bank account that he kept hidden. It was like Clint had absolutely vanished, and the blonde agent was quickly realising that she was drowning in frustration.

"I'm double checking Barton's hidden accounts," Sonya muttered about a half an hour later, running a hand through her light hair as she glared at the screen.

"You checked those three times," Sitwell replied, not taking his gaze away from his own screen.

Sonya took a few seconds to glare at the picture of Loki. She really hoped she was going to have a chance to throw something at that monster, preferably her staff "Fourth time's the charm."

"Sonya." Sonya looked over sharply at Sitwell, who had merely raised a calm eyebrow at her. Sitwell had never used her first name before. It was always Agent Rogers with him, just like how it was with Fury. "Breathe."

"I'm breathing." She resisted the urge to either sigh or roll her eyes, or possibly do both. Instead, Sonya swirled in her seat a few times, breathing as she tried to force herself to refocus. Her gaze hit Steve and Coulson, who were standing off the side, and she smirked over at Steve.

Steve had merely shot her a warm half smile, though she caught the concern in his blue eyes. Sonya knew that both had probably recognised her frustration at the moment. Sonya hated doing nothing. She hated waiting. Hated that she was powerful with her abilities but couldn't do anything for now.

But most of all, Sonya hated the fact that Clint was out there somewhere, brainwashed, and there was not a damn thing she could do to help him.

"I hate technology sometimes," Sonya muttered, glaring at the picture of Clint on the screen when her chair had turned to the right way. She shot another death glare at the picture of Loki, her hand slipping into a fist.

Clint and Natasha might have been protective of her, but that protection went both ways. To her they were like her niece and nephew and she would no anything for them.

Sitwell's next four words came out of the blue and nearly stopped her heart.

"We got a hit." Everyone's attention turned to Sitwell instantly, Sonya whirling in her chair sharply enough for a small crack to sound from her neck. She stared at the screen, her eyes narrowing when she saw the picture on the screen. It was Loki, alright.

"A 67% match. Wait." Sitwell double checked the screen before correcting, "Cross match. 79%."

"Location?" Coulson asked. He crossed over to peer at the screen in front of Sitwell. Sonya leaned over, frowning as she tried to take another look as well.

"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Königstrasse. He's not exactly hiding." Sonya raised an eyebrow at that, exchanging a confused look with Steve. Judging from the picture on Sitwell's screen, the god wasn't hiding. There was no way that meant anything good was going on.

Sonya frowned as she turned back to her own console. The blonde agent bit her lip as she typed in the address. "It's a museum… has a science compound in the back of it," she reported, frowning. There was no way that was a coincidence, and dread began to form a dead weight in her gut.

"Captain." The four turned back to Fury, who merely watched the super soldier carefully. "You're up."

Steve only hesitated for a second before giving a brief nod. Fury turned his attention over to Sonya, who stood from her chair, raising an eyebrow. It was instinct that caused her one hand to go to her hip, the other clutching the knife strapped to her thigh.

"Agent Rogers, please show Captain Rogers to the lockers." Sonya nodded, glancing over at her brother before she started to lead the way out of the command centre, Steve a few feet behind her. Sonya and Steve paused as Fury spoke again.

"And Agent Rogers?" Sonya turned back to look at him, crossing her arms as she waited. Steve frowned, keeping his attention on her. Fury glanced at the super soldier before adding, "Suit up. You're going with them."

Five minutes later, as she led him down the shadowed hallways of the Helicarrier, Sonya turned, walking backwards as she watched Steve carefully.

"Are you ready for this...Captain?"

"I was born ready" Steve replied stopping outside of a room.

Steve merely smirked before slipping completely into the room, letting the door slide shut behind him. Steve's face turned serious a moment later as he looked at the end of the room, a familiar sight welcoming him.

Red. White. Blue. A single star in the middle of his shield. Steve's hand clenched into a fist at his side as he stepped forward.

Captain America was about to make a comeback with his sister by his side.

Loki walk casually through out the streets, wearing a gentlemen suit with a green scarf as his scepter became a walking stick.

Loki walked through the back door and reached the balcony that overlooked the party and saw his target, who was starting to give a speech.

He flips his cane, whamming the guard in the face sending him to the floor, Loki walks up to the target, grabs his throat, forcing him walk backward and flips the man onto a table, Loki then took out his eye scan device and plunge it into the man's eye. The people began to scream and shout as they ran.

Loki watched them flee with a smile of excitement on his face, He left the corpse on the table statue and walk at a slow pace, his formal midgardian clothing change into his Asgardian clothing.

The people try to escape, but copies of Loki appeared around them, "Kneel before me." Loki demands them, as his clones box them in.

"I said. . ." Loki states, him and his clones, slam their scepters down, a blue light shines from all of them. "KNEEL!" he shouts at them.

The people stagger a bit, then slowly go on their knees before them.

Loki just laughs at them, "Is this not simpler?" he asks them walking through the crowd, "Is this not your natural state?" he asks them.

"It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom, diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled, in the end, you will always kneel" Loki tells them, then an old man stood up, making Loki stop in his tracks.

"Not to men like you." he tells Loki, but Loki just laugh.

"There are no men like me." Loki assures him,

"There are always men like you." he shot back.

Loki raise him scepter. "Look to your elder, people." he tells them, aiming his scepter at him. "Let him be an example." he states.

Then Loki fires at the old man, but suddenly the blast was reflected back at Loki, knocking him off his feet, Captain America blocks the shot with his shield and Sonya places her hand on the elder man's shoulder, smiling at him then walks over next to Captain America.

Both glaring at the two. "You know the last time my I were in Germany, I saw a man, standing above everybody else. We ended up disagreeing." he tells them, as Loki pulls himself up.

"The soldier and the super agent. The siblings out of time." Loki states. "We're not the one who's out of time." Steve tells him as an S.H.E.I.L.D flight craft, hover a for way out.

"Loki drop the weapon and stand down." Natasha orders him.

But Loki just fires at the craft, which misses, Steve threw his shield a Loki, which also had no effect, the people began to clear out of the area as Steve punch Loki in the face, who show no effect of the punch.

The fight between the siblings and Loki continued, Sonya got thrown back when Loki thrusted his hand out using his magic

She pants and slouches over a bit. Then ACDC played catching everyone's attention.

Tony flew in and fires at Loki, making him fly back.

He then lands and aims his weapons at them, "Make you move, reindeer games." he dares them Sonya and Steve stood next to him.

Tony place away his weapons, "Good move." he tells them. "Mr. Stark." Steve states, "Cap'n, Aunt Sonya." he said back to them.

Steve looked at Sonya raising his eyebrow, "I'll explain later" she said without looking at him.

Loki was strapped into the seat, being taken S.H.E.I.L.D headquarters,

"Is he saying anything?" Fury asks over the comm.

"Not a word." Natasha informs him.

"Just get them here, we're low on time." Fury tells her and close the comm link.

"I don't like it." Steve mumbles to Tony.

"What rock or giving up so easily?" he asks him,

"I don't remember it being that easy. This guy packs a wallop." Steve states, eyeing Loki.

"Well you still are sprite for an older fellow." Tony states.

Then lightning dances across the clouds, "Where is this coming from?" Natasha asks, then lighting roared out, making Loki move uncomfortably.

"What? Scared of a little thunder?" Steve asks them.

"I'm not over fond of what follows after." Loki tells him, then something lands on top of the flight craft, shaking it a bit.

Tony and Steve place on their masks as Sonya looks around. "What are you doing?" Steve asks Tony as he walks to the back, press a button, opening the back and Thor appears.

Tony went to fire at him, but Thor knock him back and crash him into Steve.

Sonya pulls herself off the seat and kneels next to Steve and looks at the thunder God.

Thor grabs Loki by his throat, twirls his hammer and flew out stealing the prisoner.

"What was that?" Sonya asks.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha asks. Sonya look at her as her and Steve stood.

"Wait, you're saying, they're real?" Sonya asks her. She had been alive for 90 odd years and have never heard anything about it.

"Stark we need a plan of attack." Steve calls out to him.

"I do have a plan. Attack." Tony states and turns to Sonya, "Are you coming Aunt?" and took off, Sonya looks out the ramp.

"Been awhile since I have done this" Sonya said, inhaled and ran then jumps out of the Qin-jet. "Sonya!" Steve calls out.

Sonya focus on her powers and then green flames shoot out surrounding her she then flew after Tony. Steve sighs and pulls on a parachute.

"I'd sit this one out, Captain." Natasha warns him.

"I don't see how I can." he tells her, tightening the belt.

"Those two come from legend, they're basically Gods." she tells him.

"There only one God ma'am, and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that." Steve tells her, grabbing shield and jumps out the back.

After flying for a while, Thor throws Loki against the surface of a cliff. Loki just groans than laughs.

"Where is the Tesseract?" Thor demands of him.

"I miss you too." Loki said in a joke way.

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?" Thor growls at him.

"You should thank me. With the Bifrost gone, how much dark energy did the Allfather have to conger just to muster you here, your precious earth?" Loki states, sitting up.

Thor drops his hammer, growls at him then grips him by the collar "I thought you both dead." Thor tells them in a soft voice.

"Did you moan?" Loki asks him.

"We all did. Our father -" Thor starts and drops him but Loki cuts him off.

"Your father." Loki growls, "He did tell you about my true parentage, did he not?" Loki asks him, walking away while holding his back, "We were raised together, we've played together, we've fought together. Do you remember none of that?" Thor asks him.

"I remember shadows." Loki states, "Living in the shadow of your greatness, I remember you tossing me into an abyss, I who was and should be ruler." Loki growls at him.

"Oh, so you take the world I love for recompense for your imaged sites?" Thor question them, "No the Earth is under my protection, Loki." Thor informs him, but Loki just laughs.

"And you're doing a marvelous job at that. The humans are slaughtering each other drones while you Idly fret." Loki tells him, "I mean to rule them, why not." he states.

"You think yourself above them?" Thor asks.

"Well yes." Loki answers.

"Then you miss the truth means to rule brother, the throne suits you ill," Thor tells him.

Loki growls at him, shove him out of the way and walks away, "I've seen worlds you have never known about." Loki shouts at him, "I have grown, Odinson, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I will it -" Loki states, standing in front of Thor

"Who show you this power? Who controls the would-be king?" Thor demands him.

"I am a king!" Loki shouts back at him.

Then Thor grips his shoulders. "Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream!" Thor shouted back, then cup the side of his neck, "You come home" Thor begged him.

Loki looks at him, "We don't have it." he answers.

Thor pushed him away, and his hammer flew into his hand, ready to strike Loki.

"You need the cube to bring us home, but I sent it off, I know not where." Loki informs him.

Thor points his hammer at him, "Listen well brother, I-" Thor starts, but was suddenly gone.

"I'm listening." Loki states, then they both saw Sonya fly over them and land in between Thor and Tony.

Loki watched on as Thor fights off both Sonya and Tony, then Sonya falls straight on her back, groaning, then as she pulls herself up, a hand offers itself to her, she looks up and saw Thor, offering help.

She blew a strand of hair out of her face and threw her hand up, gripping onto his arm and was pulled onto her feet.

She looks at him and nods, he returns the nod and lets go of her hand. They all pant, seeing that they destroy the whole forest and then they look at Loki.

"Like a moth to a flame." Loki says quietly.

Loki was escorted by a whole squadron of soldiers, hands cuffed behind him.

Dr. Banner got a good look at him, Loki gives of a crazy smile as they press on. They walking into a glass room container, the door shut tight.

"Just so it's clear, if you try to escape." Fury tells them, pressing a few buttons, "You so much as scratch that glass. . ." he states, then the door below them opens as the air was being suck into the door.

Loki looks over down the hole, "30,000 feet, straight down in a steel trap." Fury states, "Caught the meaning?" he asks, closing the door below them, "Ant, boot." he jest between Loki to the panel.

Loki just laughs, "It's an impressive cage. Not built for me I think." he states.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury tells him.

"Oh, I've heard. A mindless beast, and makes play a man." Loki states,

"Just how desperate are you. You call on such lost creatures to defend you." Loki shoots.

"How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force that you can't hope to control, you talks about peace, but you kills cause it's fun." he states.

"You have made me very desperate. And might not be glad that you did." he tells Loki,

"Oh, it burns you to have come so close." he taunts him, "To have the Tesseract, to have power, unlimited power. And for what?" he continually taunts him,

"A war for all mankind to share and to be reminded of what real power is." he growls at him.

Fury smirks a little. "Yeah let me know if real power wants a magazine or something." he said and walk away, leaving them in the cell.

Everyone sat down at the table after hearing everything Loki's talk with Fury.

Sonya sat there lost in her thoughts, she was then pulled out of her thoughts as Bruce and Tony talk about science that threw right over her head.

She looks at them in confusion. She may have an advance mind thanks to her powers, but it's not that advance.

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube. I was hoping you might join him." Fury tells him.

"I'd start with that stick of his, it may be magical, but it works a horribly like a Hydra weapon." Steve adds.

"I don't know about that, but it is powered by the cube and I like to know how he turned the two most sharpest minds I know into his flying monkeys." Fury questions them.

Sonya sighs, understanding what he meant, running her fingers through her hair. But Thor was confused by this, but Steve caught it or so he thought.

Loki saw Natasha standing before him, "Not many people can sneak up on me." Loki tells her as he stood up.

"But you figured I'd come." she states,

"After what ever torches that Fury can decors. He would appear as a friend, as a bum. And I would of cooperated." he tells her.

"I want to know what you've done to agent Barton?" she asks him.

"I would say I expanded his mind." he puts it plainly.

"And once you've won. Once you're king of the mountain, what happens to his mind?" she asks him, stepping in front of their cage.

"Is this love, Agent Romanoff?" Loki asks her.

"Love is for children, I owe him a debt." Natasha tells him.

Loki backed off, "Tell me." Loki said as he took a seat on the beach.

She sighs, "Before I work for shield, I um. . ." she starts, taking a seat,

"Well I made a name for myself, I have a very specific skill set, I didn't care who I use it for or on." she tells him, "I got on S.H.E.I.L.D's radar, in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call." she tells her side of her story. She just didn't mention it was Sonya who actually made the call.

"And what will you do if I decide to spear him?" Loki asks her.

"Not let you out." Natasha tells him.

Loki just laughs. "Oh no, but I like this, your world in the balance and you bargain for one man's life." Loki states.

"Regensma falls everyday. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian, or I was." she tells him.

"And what are you now?" Loki asks her.

"It's really not that complicated, I got red in my ledger, now I want to clean it out." she tells him, standing up from the chair and crossed her arms.

"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakeoff's daughter?" Loki asks, hitting a nerve. "Salcalf? The hospital fire? Barton told me everything." Loki states, standing up and walks over to her, "Your ledger is dripping. It's gushing red and you think saving a man no ventures than you will change anything?" he questions her,

"This is the abashment senility, this is a child, pear, pathetic. You lie and kill, in the services of liars and killers." Loki raise his voice at her, "You pretend to be separated, to have your own code. Something that makes up for the horrors, but they're apart of you. And they will never go away."

Then Loki slams his fist against the glass, startling Natasha, "I will not touch Barton, not until he kills you. Slowly, intimately, and very way he knows you fear. And when he wakes, just long enough to see his good work." Loki informs her, she turns away from them. "And when he screams, I'll split his skull. This is my bargain, you mewling quim." Loki promise her.

Natasha starts to cry. "You're a monster." she whimpers a bit.

"No, you brought the monster." she tells her, then Natasha turns, and she was completely fine.

"So Banner. That's your play?" she states.

Loki looked surprise."What?" he states.

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk." Natasha states as she starts to leave the room. "Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. And Thor as well." she said to her comm link, then turns to them. Thank you for your cooperation." she tells them, and left.

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury questions him.

"Uh, kind been wondering the same thing about you." Tony answers him

"You're suppose to be locating that Tesseract." he tells him,

"Yeah, the model's lock and we're looking for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location in half a mile." Banner informs him.

"Yeah you're gonna get your cube back, no muss no fuss." Tony states, then a beep went off. "What is phase 2?" Tony asks him and right on time, Steve drops a big silver gun on the table.

"Phase 2 is that S.H.E.I.L.D uses the cube to make weapons. Sorry your computer was moving a little slow for me." Steve states.

"Rogers, we've gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean -" Fury starts to explain.

"I'm sorry Nick. what were you lying?" Tony states, showing a panel of a weapon designed by S.H.E.I.L.D for the Tesseract.

"I was wrong Director, the world hasn't change a bit." Steve states as Thor, Sonya and Natasha walk in.

"Did you know about this?" Banner asks Natasha.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment?" Natasha asks him.

"Sonya, did you know about this?" Steve asked his sister.

"No, I'm just an agent, I helped found SHIELD but I was never really one for politics" she explained.

"She's right, she always complained that they were trying to get her involved in the politics because of who she is but she always turned them down"

Sonya looked at Fury, "Maybe I should have, then I would have been able to put a stop to it," she walked up to Fury, "what else is there that I don't know" she asked dangerously.

Everyone started to argue among themselves; Sonya face palms and shakes her head, not believing this, so she puts her foot down. "Shut the hell up!All of you!" she shouts at them, making them stop and looks at her.

"Look at yourselves, you're playing right into Loki's hands, all acting like children." she snaps, they look at themselves.

"You're scared, hell even terrified, have personal grudges with one another, some of you are arrogant morons and I get that, but right now, and focus on what really matter and then after everything is over, I swear to you. You guys can then kill each other all you want. But before that happens, man up and be adults instead of teenagers with petty grudges." she tells them, everyone looks at each other seeing that she was right.

They all sigh and nod at each other, then the tracker for the Tesseract went off, Bruce walks over to the panel and looks at it, Bruce removed his glasses, not liking where the Tesseract was. Then BAM; explosions went off, sending everyone flying back, Natasha, Bruce and Sonya fell back and into another room.

Sonya lands on her back as Natasha got her foot pinned under some pipes and Bruce fall flat on his chest and groans, feeling the Hulk coming out.

Sonya rolled over and looks at him. "Bruce, breathe. You just need to breathe." Sonya tells him.

"Bruce, you got to fight it, it's just what Loki wants. Listen to me, we're going to be okay." Natasha tells him.

Sonya pulls herself onto her hands and knees, looking at Banner, seeing that he was losing it, "Bruce after this, all of this, you can walk away, find another place to hide. I swear it on my life." Sonya promises him, he glares at her,

"Your life?!" he question her, "I make a promise and I intend to keep my promises." she assure him.

Then saw his skin turn green, Sonya then crawls over and lift the poles off of Natasha's foot. They then saw him stumble away, his shirt ripping off his chest, then looks at the two.

"Bruce..." Natasha mumbles and Bruce stumbles away from them. "Come on, get up." Sonya orders her, pulling her to her feet and they look over at Bruce who was now the Hulk.

Sonya gasp at the sight as he looks over at the two of them, they exchange looks and both took off in different directions, but Hulk went after Natasha, smashing everything in his way.

"Natasha!" Sonya calls out, Hulk looks over at her, she stiffens in her skin, Hulk turns to her and towers over her, making Sonya back up until was back into a pipe.

Hulk pulls his face close to her's, she held her breath, his green eyes look into her blue eyes, he growls lowly at her and slowly pulled his finger to her cheek.

"Hey, over here!" Natasha calls out, getting Hulks attention, he roars and ran after her, Sonya lets out a breath, she then looks down at her hand, seeing it was shaking, she grips her wrist and took in deep breathes.

"Why Natasha, I'm supposed to look out for you. Damnit!." she tells herself, what made the Hulk not attack her?

The sound of a roar reaches Loki's ears then the door slides open and he starts to walk out once he stood, then Thor appeared in front of him.

"NO!" he shouts, running at him, but went right through them; an illusion, the door slides shut and Loki was standing next to the panel.

"Are you not going to fall for at?" Loki asks him, Thor scrambles onto his feet and hit the glass, making a crack and the cage shifted sharply. Making him stop.

Loki just chuckles. "The humans think us immortal." Loki states as he presses a few buttons and flip open a small case containing the red button. "Shall we test?" He asks him, but the sound of a man being knock out and Coulson points a laser gun at her.

"Move away please." he asked.

Loki eyes the laser gun, "You like this? Started working on the the prototype after you sent the destroyer to kill us." he tells him, walking closer.

"Even I don't know what it does, you want to find out?" he asks him, starting up the gun, but then was suddenly stab through the chest with the scepter by Loki.

"No!" Thor yells, feeling helpless. Coulson crumbles against the wall as the other Loki vanished and walks up to the panel and presses a button causing the door below them to open below the cage, then his hand snakes down to hover over another button.

He looked at Thor one more time and pressed the button, sending the god of thunder to fall 30,000 feet to the ground then begins to walk away.

"You're going to lose." Coulson tells him, he stops and turns around and looks at him.

"I might." he tells him.

"It's in your nature." Coulson tells him.

"With heroes scattered, your floating fortress sent to crash. Where is my disadvantage?" Loki asks him.

"Your lack conviction." Coulson answers him.

Loki asks him again but Coulson pulls the trigger, firing at him. He gets launched across the room.

He got up slowly and then he started running to the S.H.E.I.L.D craft.

Sonya ran along the walkway, then saw an arrow flying at her, she pulls up her gauntlet and repels the incoming arrow.

It bounces off the metal and lands on the ground, she then ran straight ahead and saw Clint and Natasha fighting.

She then ran at him and jumps onto his back, "Sonya!" Natasha yells.

Clint stumbles back then grabs Sonya by her hair and pulls her right off his back, she lands on her feet and grips his bow arm.

Sonya snatches the bow out of his hands and pull it onto her back. He then pulls out his knife, but Sonya tosses the knife to the side and left him defenseless.

He then went at her, Sonya tosses the bow to Natasha and kicks him hard in the head. He stumbles and lands on his ass, then pulls himself onto his knees, looking at the two.

"Natasha, Sonya?" he asks them, then Sonya right hooks him in the face, knocking him out cold.

"You think, he'll come around?" Natasha asks her, propping the bow on her shoulder as she stood next to the blonde agent.

"He better or else I'll hit him even harder." Sonya promises, Natasha giggles and pulls the bow over her shoulder and they drag Clint back to a medical room.

Natasha and Sonya sat in the medical room, Clint was strap into the bed shaking his head, trying to fight off Loki's control.

"Clint... you're going to be alright." Natasha tell him.

"You know that? Is that what you know?" he questions her. "I got no window, I got to flush him out." Clint states.

Sonya sat down next to him and place her hand on his, giving him support. He looks into her eyes, "You'll be alright." she tells him.

"You got to level out, it's going to take time." Natasha states, pouring a cup of water.

"You don't understand. . . Have you ever had someone take your brain and play? Pull you out , stuff something else in." he asks the two. Sonya sighs as Natasha looks at him.

"You know what it's like to be unmade." he said.

Sonya nods, "You know we do. . . But remember I'm the telepath." she mumbles.

"But you don't go into people's minds without permission. Only enemy's."

He pants, "Why am I back, how did you get him out?" he asks.

"I could of easily pushed him out, but not without doing damage though, so I improvised." she tells her and Natasha handed her a cup, Sonya accepted and drank the cold water.

"How?" Clint asks her.

Sonya looks over at Natasha. "She hit you on the head pretty hard." she answers and Sonya place the cup to the side.

"N wonder my head hurts… but Thank you." Clint states, Sonya smiles and nods at him, then works on the restrains. "Sonya... how many agents. . ." he starts.

"Don't. Don't do that to yourself Clint." she shuts him off. "This is Loki we're talking about here. This is monsters and magic, nothing you were trained for. I couldn't train you for this" she tells him, then works on the other restrain.

"Loki? he get away?" he asks her, she nods at him.

"Don't suppose you know where." she asks of him.

"I didn't need to know, I didn't ask." he informs them, Natasha walks over to the window as Sonya stood up and took her cup of water, then poured him a cup and handed it to him.

"He's going to make his play soon through, today." he said and takes the cup.

Natasha then turns to them. "We have to stop him." she tells them.

"Yeah. Who's we?" he asks her.

"Who Evers left and willing to fight, that might be quite a few right now." Sonya states.

"Well. . . if I put an arrow through Loki's eye socket, I can sleep better, I suppose." he states.

Sonya smirks, setting her cup down and sat down next to him. Natasha sat in the chair. "Now you sound like you." she states.

"Yeah, but you two don't." he states, Sonya swallows. "Natasha is a spy, you're a super agent, not soldiers. And now you two want to walk into a war, why?" he asks them.

Sonya sighs and looks down at her hands. "What did Loki do to you?" he asks his friends.

"Loki didn't do a thing to me, it's just. . ." she remembers Bucky's hand slipping through Steve's and he plummeted to his snowy grave. A memory she had gotten from Steve.

"Natasha and I are compromised. My hands are dirty and I want to wipe them clean." Sonya tells him.

He nods and looks at Natasha, "I want to get rid of my ledger, wipe it clean." she answers him.

Clint looks back at Sonya seeing her hands shaking a little bit, then he grips her hand tightly.

After a half an hour the door to the room slides open, Natasha and Sonya look over and saw Steve standing there. "Time to go." he states.

"Go where?" Natasha asks him.

"I'll tell you on the way, can you fly one of those jets?" he asked.

Then the rest room door opens, Clint steps out of the room drying off his hands, "I can." he answers.

Steve looks at him then back at Sonya and Natasha, they both nod at him saying he was alright. Steve then looks back at Clint, "You got a suit?" he asks the archer.

"Yeah." Clint answers.

"Then suit up." Steve said and walks away.

Sonya looks at the two assassins, they nod at her and they all walk out of the bathroom.

Sonya pulls on a belt with guns and ammo; Clint suited up, placing his quiver of arrows on his back; Natasha checks her tazers in her suit and Steve pulls his shield on his arm and pulls on his mask.

The four them walk along the hangar and onto a Qin-jet, an engineer walks up to the.

"Hey you're not authorized to be in here." he tells them.

"Son, just don't." Steve shuts him down. He nods and walks off the Qin-jet, then Clint walks over the the controls and started up the Qin-jet. The back then closes and they took off.

Fury watches from the control bridge as Tony flew off in his Iron suit and the others followed him. "Sir." Hill walks up to him, "Agent Hill." he said shuffling the cards of Steve and Sonya. "Those cards. . . they were in Coulson's locker, not in his jacket." she states. Fury just sighs. "They needed the push."

Until next chapter...


	2. Chapter 2

As they closed in on New York, their mouths fell open a huge beam of light had shot up into the sky and now, high above Stark Tower, a portal had opened. And from the portal came the Chitauri army, pouring out of the hole in space and raining down on New York.

They could see a tiny dot that was probably Tony flying up to try stop the army, and he managed to blow up quite a few but there were still a lot more and they began to fire down on New York. From their distance, they couldn't see exactly but their scanners were picking up the life-forms spreading around Stark Tower and they could see smoke rising from various parts of the city as fires broke out.

Sonya's grip on the quinjet's gunner tightened as they drew in closer and she called to Tony.

"Tony, we're heading North East."

"What, did you stop for drive-thru?" Tony quipped sarcastically. He added as he refocused.

"Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay them out for you."

"Clint?" Sonya called

"Got it." he responded.

They flew down the street as Tony had told them, and Sonya activated the guns just as Tony flew around the corner.

She fired, hitting all targets, but they were nowhere near finished.

"Sir, we have more incoming." Jarvis's voice said through the comms and Tony replied.

"Fine. Let's keep them occupied." He peeled away, heading back towards the portal as Clint flew the quinjet towards the Stark Tower. They could see Thor and Loki battling it out on the top floor.

"Yeah?" Clint asked and Sonya replied shortly.

"See them." Clint swung them around and Sonya opened fire at the golden-armored Loki.

The God swung Thor away and lifted his scepter. "Clint, watch-!" Nat shouted just as Loki fired.

Clint swerved, but the blast hit their wing and the whole jet jerked. Sonya stopped firing and stood up as the jet shuddered and began to go into free-fall. "Hang on!" Clint shouted, and Nat and Steve did just that.

Sonya spread out her arms, concentrating, green flames surrounded her arms then her body before moving to surround the jet to help Clint maneuver through the many skyscrapers, trying to avoid hitting one as he tried to land them safely.

They finally came to a stop into an empty street, and Clint heaved a sigh of relief as the agents unbuckled themselves quickly while Steve lowered the ramp and ran out ahead.

They followed quickly, heading into the chaos of the streets as police sirens wailed and people ran away screaming.

"We've got to get back up there." Steve said firmly as he looked up at Stark Tower a few blocks away, and they began to run towards the building, moving against the crowd when there was a deep growl from the portal. They paused, staring up at the sky and Sonya's eyes widened in terror as a giant worm-like creature flew out.

It flew above them, heading down the street and it released more Chitauri warriors from its sides as it went. This must be what Thor had warned them about- the Chitauri Leviathan, an almost motherhouse of its soldiers. Sonya took a deep, shaky breath as they watched the released Chitauri soldiers cling to the sides of buildings and begin to fire at and attack innocent people.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve demanded through their ear comms, and Tony replied shakily.

"Seeing. Still working on… believing." He added urgently, "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" Steve repeated in confusion, while Sonya's brows furrowed standing next to her brother.

"Just keep me posted." Tony told them, before he began to fly after the Leviathan. Steve motioned to them to take cover, and they all ran to duck behind some abandoned yellow cabs, just as a group of Chitauri flew by on their chariots, led by…

"Loki." Steve muttered as they watched the group fire explosives down the street as they went.

"Those people need assistance down there." Steve muttered, and then flinched away as a Chitauri blaster hit the cab window, just missing his face.

Sonya whirled around as Nat began to fire her pistols back at their attackers. Clint ran, still crouched over, closer towards the Chitauri as they landed on the streets nearby the four and Nat ducked back down to say to Steve firmly.

"We got this. It's good. Go."

Steve hesitated as Sonya slid down the street after Clint, and he asked Clint and Sonya seriously, worried about his sister and the two non-supers on the team. "You think you can hold them off?"

Sonya sent him a rather amused expression as Clint glanced back and said flatly. "Captain," he clicked his bow and an arrow whirred into ready position in his quiver, "it would be my genuine pleasure." He grinned,

Sonya smiled at him, "You should see what I can do" and then both he and Sonya stood up quickly, Clint pulling his arrow.

Clint fired the arrow as Sonya used her powers to either shoot things like debris at them or incapacitated them anyway she could, Clint hitting the Chitauri slightly in front and Sonya hitting the ones at the back.

Clint's arrow released electric shocks, hitting the two Chitauri beside the one he'd hit, making it a total of five down when the pair ducked back down for cover.

Steve nodded, reassured and he ran off their bridge, heading to help the civilians further down the street as Nat stood and fired at the Chitauri once more. She and Sonya covered Clint as he helped civilians trapped in a bus on their street.

He urged them towards cover as he pointed to the subway entrances, and Sonya moved to cover them as the crowd of people ran, using her powers to her potential. As soon as the bus was cleared, Clint joined Nat, shooting arrows into the Chitauri as she fired both pistols from behind a cab

Sonya joined them soon after, Clint fired another arrow, Nat commented. "Just like Budapest all over again!" Sonya snorted as Clint retorted.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently. Son?"

"I'm with Nat." Sonya replied nonchalantly as she crushed another Chitauri with her powers, and Clint muttered as he fired another arrow.

"Of course you are." Nat fired a shot at one Chituari and Sonya threw debris in the same direction, hitting the one behind as Nat's target dropped dead.

They continued, moving out of cover as the Chitauri closed in. There were just too many, and as the fight soon became close quarter, the three spread out into a loose circle.

By this point Nat had run out of gunfire and had stolen some form of spear-gun from one of the Chiaturi to use against her opponents as Clint alternated stabbing his arrows into the aliens and then firing them at further targets.

Sonya whipped around, crushing the Chitauri heads, necks or chests to ensure they didn't get back up. She occasionally shot her guns when necessary, usually when she was backing up Nat or Clint, but she knew she needed to conserve some of her energy as much as possible or she was going to wear herself out. She had very few shots left in her own gun, which she was saving just in case as the fight wore on longer.

She was beginning to tire as she crushed each Chitauri, and every time they thought the numbers were beginning to dwindle, a new group of the things would arrive and the fight would repeat itself.

Sonya grunted as she shot another Chitauri, only for it to grab her arm as it died. One of its comrades threw itself on her as she struggled to break free, knocking her off her feet.

She kicked it, reaching for a knife when it was whacked off of her by Captain America's shield as Steve jumped into the fray.

He glanced back to check she was alright, and she nodded briefly in thanks as she jumped to her feet, and used her powers to crush the Chitauri behind Steve.

They turned to the side to face the advancing Chitauri, when suddenly the aliens were all hit by lightning bolts and Thor appeared out of the sky.

He landed before them as Nat and Clint walked over, and the DELTA team checked each other quickly as Steve asked Thor urgently. "What's the story upstairs?"

"The powers surrounding the cube is impenetrable." Thor replied tightly.

They all looked up as more Chitauri flew overhead and Tony added. "Thor is right. We gotta deal with these guys."

Clint checked his bow as Nat and Sonya turned to Steve, and the redhead asked. "How do we do this?"

"As a team." Steve replied firmly. Nat looked skeptical but Sonya took her arm, nodding in agreement with Steve.

Nat flew hair out of her face, nodding a little reluctantly as Thor interjected. "I have unfinished business with Loki."

"Yeah?" Clint chimed in flatly. "Get in line."

"Save it." Steve ordered as he turned to the team, "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild." He glanced around at the Chitauri. "We got Stark up top," he pointed at Stark Tower as he began to make plans, "he's gonna need us to-"

Steve broke off as they all heard the sound of a motorcycle. They looked around to see Banner arriving on the small vehicle, and Steve led the way as he quickly walked over to meet the man.

Banner commented as he got off the bike. "So, this all seems horrible."

"I've seen worse." Nat commented pointedly, and Banner glanced at her.

"Sorry." He said sincerely, and Nat corrected with a small smile.

"No. We could use a little worse." Banner looked surprised, though pleasantly so, and Sonya grinned at them.

"Stark?" Steve called into his comm. "We got him."

"Banner?" Tony asked and Sonya teased.

"No, the other scientist with breath-taking anger issues." She winked at Banner as he glanced at her and he cracked a smile.

Steve gave her a pointed look as he told Tony. "Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up." Tony replied. "I'm bringing the party to you." He added and they all looked up just as Tony flew around the corner.

Sonya's eyes widened as the Leviathan followed behind, smashing the side of a skyscraper as it made the sharp turn after Tony.

Thor snarled as he lifted his Mjolnir, while Nat said in a mix of shock and confusion. "I, I don't see how that's a party…"

As Tony flew towards them, the Leviathan following, Banner turned and started down to meet them. Steve called after the scientist. "Dr. Banner. Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."

"That's my secret, Captain." Banner commented as he planted his feet. He turned to them as he explained. "I'm always angry." With that, he turned back around to face the Leviathan.

As he turned, he changed, turning green and growing larger, ripping out of his shirt while his pants stretched, and it was the Hulk that met the Leviathan, punching it hard and forcing it to a stop with a loud snarl that echoed through the streets. The Leviathan cracked as it met the Hulk's fist, and its protective shell broke open.

But it began to flip over the Hulk's head and down towards the team.

Sonya flinched, but thankfully Tony flew in, calling. "Hold on." He fired explosives at the Leviathan's now exposed innards, causing it to explode.

Thor covered Nat as Clint ducked beneath a cab and Steve threw up his shield to cover both himself and Sonya from the resulting debris.

The whole place was filled with the screams of the Chitauri as they looked down at what had killed their motherhouse.

The Avengers simply stood proudly in a circle, Tony landing to join them as they faced the oncoming army while the Hulk roared at the shrieking Chitauri.

Sonya glanced up and saw more Leviathans coming out of the portal, followed by thousands more Chitauri. Nat saw the same thing and she said warningly. "Guys."

The rest of the team looked up as well, and Tony said urgently. "Call it, Captain."

"Alright, listen up." Steve ordered sharply. "Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof," he nodded over to the tallest building nearby, "eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash."

Tony nodded as Clint asked him. "Wanna give me a lift?"

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony grabbed Clint.

Sonya called to them sharply. "You two, be careful or I'll kill you myself."

"Don't worry, Aunt. I'd never leave you to have to deal with the Cap alone." Tony tossed back as he took off, taking Clint with him.

Steve continued. "Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning. Light the bastards up." Thor spun his Mjolnir and flew off, and Steve turned to the remaining two agents. "You two with me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here."

Nat and Sonya exchanged tense looks, nodding firmly, as Steve turned to say finally. "And Hulk." The large green beast turned to him at its name, and Steve pointed up at the many Chitauri scaling the buildings.

"Smash." He said simply, and the Hulk grinned menacingly before he jumped to an incredible height. He landed right on a Chitauri chariot, smashing the Chitauri on it as he made his way further up various buildings. He tore apart all the Chitauri in his way as he jumped from building to building and right into the middle of a group of flying chariots.

Thor flew up to the top of the Empire State building and began to cause a lightning storm, drawing power from that raw energy before sending blasts of lightning at the portal, blowing up a Leviathan right as it was making its way out.

Sonya turned her attention back to her fight, and ran at a group of approaching Chitauri.

They fired at her, but she slid on the ground, and sliced at their shins. They screamed in pain as she leapt to her feet and began to stab at each of them, using her position in the center of the group so that they hit each other when they tried to shoot her. She projected her power outward so it crushed the Chitauri around her.

She could vaguely hear the others talking in the background, at one point Clint and Tony exchanging light banter, but as none of it was important or directed her way, she ignored most of it as she took on another group of Chitauri. She heard a grunt and spotted Nat pinned to the hood of a car by a Chitauri soldier.

Sonya flew over to help her, throwing another Chitauri backwards that was approaching the redhead just as Nat circled her legs around her attacker and raised herself up so that she could wrench out the nerves on its neck. She then blasted it with her spear as Sonya jumped on the last Chitauri, stabbing it in the neck, and landing on her feet as it collapsed.

Both women turned sharply, weapons raised as they felt a presence drop behind them but lowered it as they saw it was only Steve, his shield raised warily just in case they attacked first. He walked over as the Nat leaned back on the car hood and Sonya bent over to catch her breath, both exhausted.

Nat sent a nod of thanks at Sonya, who shrugged in response, before she said to Steve grimley. "Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve replied tightly.

Sonya's eyes narrowed as Nat said flatly. "Well, maybe it's not about guns." A group of chariots began to sweep past and Sonya glanced at them. Steve had his eyes fixed on a nearby group of Chitauri as he commented.

"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride."

"I got a ride." Nat replied and Steve glanced at where the women were looking. Nat added pointedly. "I could use a lift though."

"Do you want me to come with you?" Sonya asked her seriously, and Nat shook her head.

"You do what you can to help the Cap here, I'll let you know if I need backup." She said firmly and Sonya nodded.

Nat backed up a bit as Steve braced himself and held up his shield, angling himself even as he asked Nat. "You sure about this?"

"Yeah. It's gonna be fun." Nat replied, sounding just a little sarcastic. She then sprinted, leaping onto the car hood, then Steve's shield. He drew his arm in and then lifted the shield again in a quick springing movement, throwing Nat high into the air with the double momentum.

Sonya watched worriedly as Nat grabbed the bottom of a chariot just as it flew by overhead, and turned away as it flew off. Steve had also watched its path worriedly, but glanced at Sonya as she began to move again. She took off for the group of Chitauri and Steve took a deep breath before he followed.

Sonya stabbed, turned, punched, crunched and repeated the pattern as she took out the Chitauri. Steve joined her, and the two were soon working in sync, having worked out each other's fighting style and pattern.

Steve hit a Chitauri and Sonya stabbed it, and they repeated.

Tony flew in to join them, and he shot his suit's laser at Steve, who used his shield to rebound it on the remaining Chitauri. Tony then flew off and Steve called to Sonya. "You okay?"

"Never better." Sonya replied sarcastically but she grinned.

He gave her an answering grin before they then took off again, heading for the block over. They fell back into a pattern, working around and with each other, until one of the Chitauri landed a solid punch on Sonya. She went flying, just as another Chitauri jumped Steve, knocking him to the ground.

Sonya whipped up, but a Chitauri jumped her as well, she struggled against it as it tried to choke her, even as she kicked out and used her legs to snap the neck of another Chitauri. Her attacker suddenly let go and Sonya turned to see an arrow in its back.

She saluted the tiny figure on the roof, knowing he'd see the gesture, before she threw a knife at the last Chitauri as Steve kicked and incapacitated his own attacker. Clint called. "Captain, Son, the bank on 42nd past Madison, they caught a lot of civilians there."

"We're on it." Steve replied and he gestured for Sonya to follow him. They ran through the streets, even as Sonya could feel the fatigue wearing down on her muscles. Steve jumped into the bank through an open window, and Sonya followed just as he threw his shield at one Chitauri.

It dropped the bomb it had been holding, as the other three Chitauri began to fire at Steve and Sonya. Steve ran for the beeping bomb while Sonya dodged the blasts and kicked the legs out from underneath the three gunmen. Steve fought the Chitauri who'd been holding the bomb, knocking it out and tossing it down the balcony to where the crowd was.

"Everyone, clear out!" Steve ordered and Sonya called at him as two of her opponents ran from her and at the super soldier. "Steve!" He turned right as the Chitauri jumped at him, and they fought.

He kicked one off the balcony railing, and it struggled to hang on as the other caught Steve in a chokehold while Sonya's opponent used her momentary distraction to grab her in a headlock, all while the bomb continuing to beep faster.

Sonya stabbed her opponent's arm just as the Chitauri that had been hanging onto the railing pulled itself up at shot a blast at Steve. Steve threw himself up and over his attacker's head so that the blast hit the Chitauri, and he finally escaped the chokehold his attacker had on him although he lost his helmet in the process.

Sonya twisted out of her attacker's grip and stabbed it as Steve's second attacker grabbed the bomb, and Steve yelled out warningly. "Sonya!" She turned towards him as he ran for her, grabbing her and pulling them into a ball behind his shield as the Chitauri raised the bomb, getting ready to throw it at them.

The bomb exploded before the Chitauri could throw it, and the force of the blast sent both Steve and Sonya flying out a window, both landing with a heavy crash on a car roof outside the bank as glass rained down on them. Steve grimaced but quickly turned his head to his younger sister as he called worriedly. "Sonya?"

She didn't move from her spot on the crushed roof, and Steve's heart dropped as he shifted his aching body to check on her. Her head was bleeding pretty badly, but as he touched her cheek lightly her eyes fluttered open and she groaned as she blinked her dazed blue eyes at him.

"What happened?" She asked and he sighed in relief.

"Those people, are they hurt?" Sonya asked with a wince as she slowly began to focus again. The downside was that it meant she could now feel every aching muscle in her body, and she was going to have several wicked bruises tomorrow.

"I think so." Steve murmured, wincing himself as he slowly slid down off the car, landing on his feet on the streets. He glanced back as firemen arrived and began to pull people urgently out of the destroyed bank, ushering them to safety.

He looked up and as Sonya didn't move asked her concernedly. "Are you injured?"

She shook her head, wincing as she picked herself up and slowly slid down to stand beside him. "Could be better." She joked weakly, as she clutched her arm in pain and he looked her over worriedly. "You lost your helmet." Sonya noted and he sighed, nodding unhappily.

"Son?" Clint's voice asked sharply over their ear comms

She groaned. "I don't need you to mother me right now, Hawkeye. I'm the one who does that to you and Nat." Sonya retorted into her earpiece.

Clint exhaled sharply. "Don't give me that, _Son._ Are you hurt?" He demanded and she sighed.

"Sorry, and no. I'm fine, Clint. Don't worry about me, we need to stay focused." Sonya told him, and it was at that moment Nat called over their com.

"Hawkeye." Sonya and Steve stiffened, listening intently as Clint asked in disbelief.

"Nat, what are you doing?"

"Uh, a little help?" She pointed out, and Sonya listened anxiously but she smiled as Clint replied softly. "I got him."

She could almost see his satisfied smirk, and she and Steve exchanged amused glances before it became grim once more and they headed back out into the fight.

Sonya and Steve fought through grit teeth. Sonya'd run out of knives at this point but still using her powers and they were both exhausted. She wasn't even sure how many hours it might have been since the fight started, but she did know that every muscle in her body screamed when she moved and then throbbed tiredly when she paused.

She glanced up at one point and froze. The roof where Clint had been was destroyed. "Clint?!" She called into her comms urgently, but there was no response. She spotted a small hole in the building a few floors down where the glass had shattered and wondered if that was where he'd gone.

"Son? What's happened to Clint?" Nat called and Sonya began.

"He's gone, he-" She was cut off as she heard a whistling coming towards her and she barely managed to duck in time as a Chitauri swung its spear at her. But it simply whacked the butt of the spear at her head, knocking her to the ground.

Sonya groaned and then twisted away as it fired its gun from the spearhead, before she kicked at it. It dodged and made to hit her again when Steve's shield whacked it aside, knocking it out. She looked up as he ran over, asking urgently. "Son, you okay?"

She nodded, saying gratefully. "Thanks, Steve."

"You need to stay focused. Barton's strong, he'll have found a way to survive." Steve told her sternly and Sonya nodded, hanging her head. "I should know. I trained him. I'm sorry." She murmured, and Steve paused.

He glanced around to make sure they weren't in danger at the moment before he clamped a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye. Her blue eyes met his as he said gently. "I promise you, we'll look for him as soon as we can. But for now, I need you here."

Sonya nodded slowly and then once more firmly.

"Roger, that. Captain." She said softly, almost teasing but there was a deep respect in her voice.

Steve swallowed, suddenly feeling disoriented, but her eyes became sharp and she called warningly. "Steve!" He whipped around as more Chitauri appeared and he quickly returned to the battle at hand.

The pair started fighting again, and Sonya managed to pull a Black Widow and steal a spear from one using it to fire at the others. Thor joined them as Steve threw his shield to cover Sonya, hitting away a Chitauri that was about to attack Steve as Sonya used her opponent's distraction caused by the shield to take him out. She threw the shield back to Steve with a nod of thanks, before turning back to the fight.

She'd just sent one of the Chitauri flying with a blast of her telekinetic power, when Steve suddenly grunted painfully and she whipped around to see him thrown to the ground after a blast hit him right in the stomach. "Steve!" Sonya called worriedly.

She quickly fired at the Chitauri, distracting them as Thor smashed a car at them. He kept them at bay as Sonya skid over to Steve as the super soldier slowly crawled back to his knees. He was breathing heavily, and seemed to be having trouble getting to his feet.

She touched his shoulder worriedly, asking softly. "Steve?" He grimaced at her, and they both looked up as a hand appeared before Steve's face. Thor waited, and Steve took the offered hand gratefully. Thor helped him to his feet as Sonya supported Steve, gripping his elbow.

She frowned worriedly at Steve's heavily bleeding side, and Thor asked, though he was eyeing the Captain concernedly. "You ready for another bout?"

"What? You gettin' sleepy?" Steve joked, but his face was furrowed in pain and his breathing still heavy.

Thor smiled grimly before grabbing his Mjolnir and Sonya muttered. "Men." But even her jibe was half-hearted and Steve gripped her shoulder as they turned back to the advancing Chitauri.

"You're wounded, you should rest." Sonya murmured to Steve as they took a fighting stance once more and Thor flew on ahead to meet their attackers.

"You're injured, too, and you're still going." He replied calmly and Sonya retorted.

"Injured, not wounded. You're no good to us dead, Cap."

"Neither are you. So you'd better come back alive." Steve replied lightly but there was a serious undertone to his voice. Sonya just gripped her spear tightly as some of the Chitauri broke through Thor and headed for the pair. She murmured quietly.

"You'd better be there to meet me when I do."

He nodded tightly, and then they ran forward, once more throwing themselves into the fray. Sonya had just whacked aside a Chitauri when Nat's voice called. "I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!"

"Do it!" Steve ordered, when Tony replied sharply. "No, wait!"

Sonya exchanged puzzled glances with Steve before she threw another blast at a Chitauri and Steve pointed out to Tony. "Stark, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute." Tony replied and Sonya's blood ran cold. _The council._ She realized. Only the council could authorize this. Tony continued grimly. "And I know just where to put it."

They all looked up at the portal, realization hitting them in horror. Steve said sternly. "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?"

"Save the rest for return, J." Tony told Jarvis, avoiding Steve's question. Sonya gripped her spear tightly as they heard Jarvis ask Tony. "Sir. Shall I call Miss Potts?"

"You might as well." Tony replied lightly, but Sonya knew he would only allow a call to Pepper if he knew he wasn't going to make it. She blasted another Chitauri, and then looked up at the sky. Thor and Steve did the same and they all watched as Tony flew up towards the portal carrying the portal.

Sonya screamed as he disappeared inside the portal. "TONY!" Steve grabbed her, holding her tightly in comfort as all the Chitauri around them collapsed, deactivated, meaning the bomb had exploded and taken out the control ship.

Sonya stared around and then back at the portal in horror, silently willing Tony to come back.

The portal gave a faint booming noise, and shimmered as a supernova started heading towards the portal gate. Sonya started to tremble as Steve and Thor exchanged looks, and Thor gave a short nod to the Captain.

Steve ordered quietly into his earpiece. "Close it." Sonya gave a broken sob, and he hugged her to him, her head pressed against his chest as they stared up at the portal. The beam from the Tesseract faltered as Nat closed it, before it disappeared and the tears began to stream down Sonya's face at last.

Steve could feel the wet spots appearing on his suit and he whispered to her sadly. "I'm sorry." She didn't reply as she cried silently, and they watched the portal shut… just as a small figure fell through.

Sonya's eyes widened as Steve murmured in disbelief. "Son of a gun."

Sonya began to smile, but it dropped as Tony continued to free-fall. Both Steve and Thor noticed as well, and Steve gripped Sonya tightly as Thor muttered, beginning to swing his Mjolnir. "He's not slowing down."

Sonya started concentrating her power to help Tony slow down as much as she could. But with her energy depleted from the fight, she could only slow him down a little bit.

But it turned out it wasn't necessary as, with an almighty roar, the Hulk appeared out of nowhere, jumping through air and catching the falling man. The Hulk crashed into a building with one hand, using its grip to slide down the building before it jumped off and landed heavily on the ground, cradling Iron Man in its other arm.

The trio ran over as the Hulk placed the Iron Man suit on the ground and Thor quickly turned the prone body over, pulling off the helmet as Steve knelt down and checked for breathing. Sonya skid onto her knees beside Steve, waiting anxiously.

Steve lifted his head and checked Tony's chest, where the light from his arc reactor was also out. He slowly turned Sonya, shaking his head and she placed a hand over her mouth, stifling sobs. He wrapped an arm around her as Thor turned away, unable to look any longer.

But the Hulk wasn't having that and it roared right in Tony's face, and they all jumped as Tony gasped, his eyes flying open in shock. Steve's face broke into a disbelieving smile while Sonya's face blanked in complete shock, and the Hulk roared again in triumph, beating its chest proudly.

"What the hell?" Tony gasped, and he stared at Steve. "What just happened?" He then saw Thor as the Norse God turned back and leant over Tony's head. "Please tell me nobody kissed me?" Tony said flatly before his eyes landed on Natalie.

Steve sighed and raised his eyes to the destruction around them as Tony added. "Well, not that you'd be a bad choice, but…" Tony trailed off as Sonya's face didn't change.

He also noticed tear tracks on her face, very noticeable around the grime and dirt that covered it. She never cried… _Damn,_ he thought, _I guess it was really bad._ Steve meanwhile kept his firm grip around Sonya, holding her tightly as she sat numbly while he muttered in disbelief. "We won."

Tony glanced at him, and then said lightly. "Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. And girls." He added, but Sonya only blinked at him. At least she was moving now. Tony rambled on. "Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day." He groaned in pain.

"Have you ever tried shawarma?" He added randomly. Steve had to chuckle as he stared down at Tony, his blue eyes bright with emotion as Tony continued. "There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

"We're not finished yet." Thor corrected calmly, looking up at Stark Tower.

Steve also turned to it while Sonya finally spoke as she said, glaring down at Tony. "Yeah, I need to kill Tony myself for scaring me like that." Tony blinked at her, and then tried. "And then shawarma after."

When Loki finally came to and climbed to his knees, he froze. Sensing a presence behind him, he turned to find himself face to face with all of the Avengers as Clint slowly drew his bow, his arrow pointed right at Loki's face.

He stared at each face- Iron Man, the Hulk, Captain America, Sonya, Hawkeye, Thor, and Black Widow- and then said to Tony quietly. "If it's all the same to you. I'll have that drink now."

 _A few hours later_

The team sat in the shawarma joint in complete silence, except for Thor's enthusiastic eating. Tony sat beside him at their round table, and he was also eating, his expression thoughtful as he chewed his mouthful of food. Bruce sat beside him, nibbling at his portion.

Steve sat beside Thor, leaning on his fist tiredly, as he picked at his food. Sonya was sitting beside him, then Nat, and then Clint, none of them even bothering to try to eat. Clint had his legs propped up on Nat's chair, and Sonya was beginning to doze off as she leaned against the super soldier tiredly.

"So, what now?" Bruce asked, finally breaking the tension. Sonya lifted her head sleepily to look at the scientist as he nodded at the group, continuing. "We've beaten the bad guys, great, but what next?"

They glanced at each other before Tony piped up. "Well, I'm going home."

"It's in shambles." Steve pointed out and Sonya pulled a face, knowing what Tony was going to say.

Lo and behold, Tony retorted. "My _Malibu_ home."

Steve rolled his eyes, but now their banter was playful. Sonya grinned as Tony added. "Pepper's going to meet me there."

"Bet she was worried." Sonya murmured softly, and Tony nodded. His face softened and for once he showed his genuine side to the team as he admitted.

"I thought I'd never see her again. Now that I can, I will as soon as I can."

"How come you're still here then?" Clint teased, and Tony replied airily.

"Her jet takes longer, and I'm not going to go early just to sit and wait. Don't worry though," he added as he caught Sonya raising her brows at him, "I'll be there before her. So don't make that face, Aunt Son."

She laughed at him while the others chuckled. "You could come with me." Tony suggested suddenly to Bruce, who raised a brow.

"What, so I can watch you cuddle with your girlfriend?" He asked, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Stark Tower's a mess right now, but my Malibu house has two floors where I do my work. It's not much but it's got enough toys to keep us entertained until the Tower's back on track."

"Two floors isn't much?" Steve asked skeptically and Sonya teased.

"It isn't for Tony."

He stuck his tongue out at her as Bruce mumbled. "Thanks, but I don't think-"

"Think of it as a thank you present to the other guy for saving me." Tony interrupted and Bruce paused, looking uncertain.

Sonya decided to chime in. "Tony, it's still a little awkward for Bruce while you and Pepper are around." Tony opened his mouth to argue but Sonya carried on as she suggested. "I know your team's probably already starting work on reconstructing the Tower. How about Bruce sticks around to help, and he can stay in the Tower for the night? Your lower floors weren't damaged- he could stay there."

Bruce looked surprised while Tony thoughtful. "You know, Aunt, I remembered why I liked you." Tony joked and Sonya laughed, shaking her head at him.

"You kinda have no choice, I've watched you grow up and I used to change your diapers" Everyone laughed. Tony stayed silent and ignored that comment.

Tony looked around the room as he offered. "Any of you need somewhere to stay, the Tower does have some rooms in the lower floors you could stay in."

"Nah, I'm good, thanks. I've got somewhere I can go." Clint replied nonchalantly.

Nat nodded. "I'll be joining you." She grinned and he nodded.

They waited, and Nat glanced at Sonya in surprise as the younger agent pursed her lips thoughtfully. Sonya was glancing at Steve, who was looking pensive.

Thor interrupted. "I do not wish to be too far from my brother. He is talented in magic and trickery, and I would feel better if I was closer to him." Tony nodded understandingly, but he pointed out.

"SHIELD's New York office building doesn't have rooms. You wouldn't have anywhere to sleep."

"He can stay with me." Sonya offered. The team turned to her in surprise, but she was looking at Thor as she said. "I live in the SHIELD apartments, right across the block from the office. It's as close as you'd get and basically the same as being inside. My apartment's also hardwired to SHIELD's security system- one of the perks of being me - so if something happened with Loki, you'd know right away."

Thor looked astonished, but he nodded as he agreed. "If it is alright with you, I would be very grateful." She then turned to Steve as she added. "You could stay, too, if you want. I have enough room." He blinked at her as she pointed out. "Your apartment was on one of the streets that got blown. I doubt you'd be allowed in. Besides, we could catch up"

He nodded- he'd already been thinking about it- Steve looked stunned so Clint laughed as he told him. "There's no such thing as modesty when you're a spy. Trust me, we've all had to share less than an apartment."

Bruce was looking distinctly uncomfortable with the topic while Thor was looking confused.

"Anyway," Sonya interrupted as she calmed down again, "so, how about it, Steve?" He looked at her thoughtfully before he said at last.

"Why not, I guess." Tony raised a brow while Sonya nodded and she said cheerily. "Great. And Bruce," she added to the good doctor who looked at her startled, "you're welcome to come at any time as well. Dinner will be on me."

"How come I'm not invited?" Tony demanded as Bruce blinked, taken aback by the friendly offer. "You know I love your cooking."

"Get Pepper to cook for you." Sonya teased him, and Tony shot back. "Maybe I will."

"Then good." She laughed at him and he pouted at her.

"You know she is almost double your age, right." Nat pointed out to Tony, who immediately retorted. "So?"

"She used to change your diapers." Nat muttered as Clint chuckled and Sonya laughed again while Thor began to smile. Steve slowly began to grin as well as the four bantered lightly, and even Bruce joined in as they all began to laugh and joke around.

 _May 4, 2012_

It had been two days since the Battle of New York. Amidst the press, good and bad, the Avengers had recuperated while SHIELD scrambled to do damage control and kept Loki under lock and key. Officials were still trying to decide what to do with the team that had now become famous around the world, but it seemed the people of New York were firmly on the side of the heroes who had saved the city.

Fury was dealing with the Security Council personally, firmly siding with the Avengers by giving them a 'leave of absence' as he'd pointedly called it. Basically, it meant lay low until the whole incident blew over and the council was forced to see things from his perspective.

They'd done exactly that, each going their way as they'd agreed during their shawarma stint. And Sonya had actually enjoyed having Steve and Thor with her in her apartment. She found it rather amusing waking up to a demi-god making PopTarts in her kitchen, although she found it less amusing when he broke her mug.

Steve was a quieter guest, but the two had grown close during the battle and she was thankful that he was found. Gave her a chance to catch him up on things and teach him a few things with technology.

When Fury called in during their two-day respite to ask Steve formally to join SHIELD, Steve agreed. He had had his doubts, because even if it had been Howard and Peggy who started the organization, he wasn't sure he could trust its current authority. But he decided that if two people with good hearts, Sonya and Phil, believed in it enough to fight at SHIELD's side, then he could trust it too.

He wanted to work alongside his sister after spending 70 years in the ice and didnt want to miss out on anymore time with her.

Sonya had teasingly sulked when he was automatically awarded a clearance level of 8, placing him at above almost everyone in SHIELD. In fact, only Nick Fury, senior SHIELD official Alexander Pierce, and Maria Hill had a higher clearance level than Steve. He'd felt somewhat uncomfortable but she'd just laughed at him good-naturedly, making him crack a smile as well in the end.

To both his and Sonya's surprise, Fury had asked Sonya to partner with him while Steve got used to things at SHIELD. She'd agreed of course, when she did, his heart had pounded excitedly. It wasn't the first time they would be working together.

Well, that's what he told himself, even though somewhere he knew it wasn't quite that. He'd caught himself staring at Sonya a little too much more than once during his stay. Admiring how strong and smart she had become over the years, even without him around. Bucky would have been proud of her too.

They'd agreed to return to work once Thor left for Asgard… which was today. The whole team had gathered in Central Park to say farewell to Thor, at least until next time. Sonya hugged him briefly before he went, and Thor almost crushed her ribs when he returned the embrace.

She walked back and watched as Thor led a manacled and gagged Loki into the center of park while Tony carried forward the case with the Tesseract. Dr. Selvig was there too, and he and Bruce Banner place the Tesseract into a container for Thor to take back to Asgard.

Sonya arrived next to Steve and leaned against him as they watched Thor say goodbye to Selvig, giving the old scientist a warm hug. Thor then nodded at them in thanks and farewell, and Steve saluted him as Sonya gave him a small, cheery wave. He gave them one more almost pensive look before he returned to his brother.

The team had all become better friends since the battle, so it surprised no-one that those two had gotten closer after spending so much time apart.

The rest of the team then broke off to say their goodbyes to each other for now. Steve shook hands with Tony, the two finally having seen somewhat eye to eye, before Sonya gave Tony a tight hug that he returned. Nat gave Bruce a warm smile as she handed him his belongings that SHIELD had collected for him, and Bruce answered it hesitantly before he moved to join Tony by the billionaire's car.

The pair were heading back to the Stark Tower, where Bruce would continue to help Tony with the renovations… and Sonya was sure he'd be staying. After all, 10 floors of R&D facilities was nothing to scoff at. Clint got into a car with Nat, the two heading back to SHIELD base, while Sonya gave Bruce a hug too, much to the scientist's surprise.

He and Tony then got into Tony's red convertible and they drove off as well, while Sonya walked back over to join Steve at his motorcycle. He was taking them to the SHIELD office and he grinned at her as she walked up. She returned it as she climbed onto the back of his bike, and then she clung to his back as he drove them off.

The team was splitting up for now, but Sonya was sure they'd all see each other again someday, and she was looking forward to it. But for now, she was content as she held onto her brother's waist as they took off down the streets of New York.

Sometime later...

Later in the early morning as the sun was coming up over Washington, a man went jogging, as he jogs along the bridge, not that far behind him a man with a tight white shirt, slacks and sneakers ran passed him. "On your left." Steve said.

Then a woman with long dark brown hair with blonde highlights tied into a ponytail, wore a black sports bra, colourful singlet top, tight compression shorts and sneakers ran right past the man, "On your left." Sonya said, the man jogging was confused; the sun was almost up as the man jogs past the building with the pillars in front of it.

The Rogers Siblings ran past him again,"On your left." Steve said,

Then "On your left." Sonya said.

"Uh-huh, on my left, got it." the man said, getting it, sort of.

As the sun raises high, the man jogs past the gigantic water pool, the siblings ran to him, "Don't say it, don't you say it." the man tells them,

"On your left." Steve said. "On your left." Sonya said and they ran right past him.

"Come on!" the man shouts, trying to catch up with them. But they were long gone.

The man leaned against a tree, panting, "Need a medic?" Steve calls out to him as he and his sister walk up to him,

"I need a new set of lungs. You two just ran thirteen miles in thirteen minutes." he tell them.

"Got a late start." Steve states, placing his hands on his hips, Sonya giggles and crosses her arms.

"Really, you should be ashamed of yourself, you should take another lap... Did you just take it, I assume you just took it." he jokes.

"What unit were you with?" Sonya asks him.

"58th Para rescue. But now I'm working down at the V.A." he tells them, the held out his hand for help, "Sam Wilson." he introduce himself.

"Steve Rogers." Steve helps him onto his feet.

"Sonya Rogers." she held out her hand to him. Sam shook her hand when Steve let go of his hand.

"I kinda put that together. It must be strange coming home after the defrosting thing." he states when Sonya took back her hand. She looks around. "Takes some getting use to." Steve answers.

Sam looks at Sonya, "Were you frozen too?"

Sonya shakes her head, "No, I have been around all this time that he has been frozen. Helping out where I can"

"Wow! Impressive. So you have seen quite a lot" He asks.

Sonya smiled, "Sure have"

"Maybe you and me should grab a coffee sometime." he asks smiling.

She just looked at Steve who was reading a message on his phone and then back at him, "Seriously, you just asked me that in front of my brother? Your brave. I'll give you that" she said smiling.

"Well see you around Sam." Steve tells him then they both turn and started to walk away.

"It your bed, right?" he calls out to Steve, they both turn and look at him.

"What?" Steve asks him.

"It's your bed, it's too soft. When I was over there, I would sleep on the ground, rocks for pillows, like for cave man. When I'm home, laying in my bed, it's like. . ." Sam started. "Laying on a marshmallow?" they both answers, he looks at them.

"Like I'm going to sink right to the floor." Steve adds. Sam just chuckles.

"How long?" Steve asks him, "Two tours. You two must of miss the good old day." he cross his arms.

Steve looks around, "Things aren't so bad, food is better, we use to boil everything, no polios is good, internet, so helpful. Been reading that a lot." Steve tells him as Sonya place her hand on her hip, shifting her weight a bit.

"Marvin Grey, 1972, trouble man soundtrack. Everything you missed, jammed into one album." he tells him.

Steve took out a small notebook and writes it down, Sonya looks over his shoulders, seeing if he wrote it down right. "I'll put it one the list." Steve tells him.

Then his cell went off, as Steve places his notepad away, he pulls it out of his pocket and looks at the message; ' _Mission Alert. Extraction Imminent. Meet me at the curb :)_ '. He sighs.

"Well Sam, love to stay and chat some more, but duty calls." Sonya tells him, placing her phone away. "Thanks for the run." she shook his hand.

"If that's what you want to call running." she adds, Sam looks at her, feeling insulted.

"Oh, is that how it is?" he questions her. "Ohh, that's how it is." Steve he tells him, they all chuckle. "Okay, maybe I should retract my offer for coffee." he tells her, as she took back his hand, they both turn to walk away.

"No you won't" she said confidently and smiled.

"Anytime you both want to stop by the V.A. to make me look awesome in front of the girl at the front desk, just let me know." he offers them.

Steve and Sonya walk backwards, "We'll keep it in mind." Steve promise him as the black cobra pulls out next to the curb. The window was rolled down and there was Natasha. "Hey fellas and lady, any of you know where the Smithsonian is, I'm here to pick up some fossils." she jokes.

Sonya rolls her eyes and they both walk up to the car, "That's hilarious." Steve throws out, Sonya opens the car and hops into the back and Steve sat up front. Sam kneels down, looking at Natasha, "How you doing?" he flirts.

"Hey." she flirts back at him, she turned to Sonya, "He's cute."

Steve looks over at him and Sonya leans forward a bit, "Can't run everywhere." Steve tells him.

"No you can't." Sam answers, then Steve rolls up his window and Natasha drove off.

 _ **Somewhere over the ocean**_

It was night as the Qin-jet flew over the ocean, S.T.R.I.K.E. force lead by Steve and his second in Command, Sonya, both dress in S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform as they were debriefed by Rumlow. "Target is a mobile satellite launch platform, the Lemurian Star. They were setting their last play load when Pirates took them, 93 minutes ago." he tells them.

"Any other Mass?" Steve asks him.

"Billion in a half." he answers.

"Why so steep?" Sonya questions, with her arms crossed.

"Because it's SHIELD's." he answers her, she sighs.

"So it's not off course, it's trespassing." she states and the Rogers eyes Natasha.

"I'm sure they have a good reason." she states.

"Yeah, Sonya and I are getting tired of being Fury's janitors." Steve tells her.

"Relax, it's not that complicated." she tells them, Sonya looks away from her, Steve did the same thing.

"That's what you always say." Sonya mumbles.

"How many pirates?" Steve asks him.

"25, they're top mercs, lead by Joinh Bactra." he shows them the picture of the man.

"Next D.G.S.C, action division. He's at the top interpol's red notice, before the French demobilized, he had 30 killed missions, this guy's got a rep for high casualties." he informs them. "Hostages, most techs. One officer, Jasper Sitwell. In the galley." he tells him.

Sonya nods and checks her equipment, "What's Sitwell doing on a lost ship?" Steve questions.

"Sightseeing perhaps, I hear the Indian ocean is lovely this time of year." Sonya smirks.

Steve chuckles, not believing just joked about something. "Stark is definitely rubbing off on you." he tells her.

"Where do you think he learnt it all from?" She asks as Steve shakes his head at her.

Sonya went over to the monitors when Rumlow and the team was making sure they were all prepped.

Rumlow turns to Sonya, "I want you to be careful." He said quietly.

Sonya looked at him, "I'll be fine. You know I'm more then capable of looking after myself" he paused, "You worried about Natasha too or is it just me you're worried about?" He couldn't answer, "That's what I thought."

"Look, stay focused on the mission. Can't afford to be distracted."

"Yeah, your right. I'll be focused." He said as she walked over to her brother.

One of the guys came up to Rumlow and whispered, "Please tell me you don't have a crush on boss lady"

Rumlow shoved him, "Leave it alone." And continued to prep.

Sonya walked over to her brother, "What was that about?"

"Nothing" she said as she checks her ammo packs just in case she needs them as Steve gives out the orders

"Alright, Sonya and I are going to sweep the decks and backtrack. Nat, you kill the engines and wait for instructions." Steve orders.

"Rumlow, you sweep left, find the hostages, get them to the life pods, get them out." Sonya orders.

"S.T.R.I.K.E, you heard the Captain and Psych. Gear up." Rumlow orders them as the Sibling walk to the back.

"Secure channel Seven." Steve said over the comm, Sonya checks her's in her ear.

"I'm good." she tells him, walking over to her weaponry, "Channel Seven secure. So did you and Sonya do anything fun Saturday night?" Natasha asks them.

"Well, all the guys from my barber shop are dead, so no not really." Steve tells her, she smiles at him.

"Coming up on the drop zone, Cap." the pilot tells them, Sonya pulls down her sleeves so the little hoops hook around her middle fingers to keep in place and she hits the release button, making the back open.

The two them walk to the ramp. "You know Steve, in you ask Kelly out, she would probably say yes." Natasha tells him as he clips on his helmet.

"That's why I don't ask." he tells her.

"Too sad or too scared?" she asks him.

"Too busy." Steve answers and he and Sonya jump out if the Jet.

Rumlow walks up to Natasha, "Did they just jump out, without a parachute?" he asks her, Natasha shook her head at him.

Steve and Sonya dive for the ship, as it came into view, Steve then dived into the water, while Sonya used her powers to lower herself quietly on the anchor chain where Steve caught up with her.

Staying quiet as possible they climb up the anchor chain, they then jump onto the ship, dispatching all the Pirates on the ship.

Steve would throw his shield and Sonya would wave her hands to place them into a deep sleep. They then reached a small squadron of men, Sonya pulls out her dagger and threw it at another one close to the wall and Steve dispatched the other two, the one with a dagger embedded into his shoulder.

He then looks up at the fire alarm and went to pull it, but Sonya grips his wrist, slams it against the wall and held a dagger against his throat. "I wouldn't." she warns him. He glares at her then she knees him in the gut and socks him in his face, and lowers him to the ground.

"Son, come on." Steve whispers to her and they continue on, Steve and Sonya reach the back and took care of the last few, Sonya uses her powers to put a few of them to sleep. Steve threw his Shield at them and pulls it back on his arm.

Sonya then walks up to him and nods they then heard a gun cock and a man shouted at them in French, but then was taken out as Rumlow landed. The two turn to him.

"Thanks." Steve said to him.

"Yeah, you two looked pretty helpless without me." he said, taking off his harness.

The rest then landed as well, Steve pulls his shield onto his back and they all started heading to their positions. "What about the nurse that lives across the hall from you and Sonya, she seems kinda nice." Natasha starts, Sonya smiles a little, unaware that Rumlow was looking at her.

"And have you take Sam's offer" she said smiling at Sonya.

"Secure the Engine room, then find me and my brother dates." Sonya ordered her.

"I'm multitasking." Natasha tells her and jumps over the ledge.

"What about you, Psych, ever think about dating someone?" Rumlow asks her, she looks at him and shook her head.

"No, I think I'm better off not dating, I don't think anyone could keep up with me." she tells him and walks off, following Steve.

They then took off, close but out of sight from the bridge. Steve fires a listening chip to the window, listening in on the conversation happening

Sonya touches her ear piece, honing into the conversation, "Can you make out what they're saying?" Steve asks her.

"Almost, Yeah. One is saying he doesn't like waiting, Bactra is telling him to call Durand. He wants the ship ready to move when the ransom come." she whispers to him.

Steve nods and they lean a bit over looking over at the bridge. "Natasha, what's your status?" Steve asks over the comm, "Status Natasha." Steve asks again.

"Hang on." she said over the comm. Steve looks up at Sonya. "Give her a minute, she's got it." she tells him, he sighs, looking away and shaking his head.

"You spent way too much time with her and Clint." he adds, she smiles and light bumps her knee into his shield. "Hey, they have their moments. Besides, someone had to train them to be bad asses." she giggles, he shook his head, loving his sister.

She nods a bit, knowing she was right about that. "Engine room secured." Natasha said over the comm.

He looks up at Sonya and she nods at him and turns to his comm, "On my mark, three, two, one." then, they then heard the gunfire over the comms. Sonya placed her fingertip to the ear comm.

"The man tells him no one is answering, that no one is responding." Sonya warns him and Steve stood up.

"We better hurry." Steve tells her and they both came out of hiding and Steve through his shield at the glass window, killing the man, but Bartroc dodges the shield just in time. Steve jumps into the room first and was kick in the chest, making him stumble back a bit and ran off as Sonya jumps into the room.

"Damn." she mumbles and ran after him, Steve pulls his shield out of the wall and follows after her.

Sonya reaches outside and saw that Bartroc was gone, "Damn." she mumbles, banging her hand against the bar.

"Hostages in route to extraction. Romanoff missed the rendezvous point, Psych. Hostiles still in play." Rumlow informs her as Steve ran out next to her.

They both walk down the steps and stood on the platform. "Nat, where the hell are you?" Sonya calls over her, Steve the ran over to her, shoves her out of the way and blocks Bartrco's kick, Sonya stumbles and falls flat on her front. She then props herself onto her elbows and shook off the suddenness.

She then pulls herself up, turns and looks at the two the fought. She then ran over, socking him in the face, making him stumble and then kicks his feet out from under him, Bartroc pulls himself back up and then flips away from them.

Steve and Sonya stood tall and look at him. " _ **Are you two more then a shield and powers?**_ " he asks them in french.

Steve exchanges looks with Sonya, they both look at him, Steve place his shield onto his back then removes his helmet and Sonya removes her weapons and ammo, tossing them. " _ **Lets see.**_ " Steve answers him and they all took a fighting stance.

Bartroc charges at them, Steve blocks every attack thrown at them. Steve then smacks his head against his, making him stumble back, Steve then bends a bit, Sonya rolls over his beck and shield, she then kicks him in the face, making him stumble back, she then turns her back to him and as he charges at her but she back flips of the ground and kicks in face again, Sonya turns to him glaring steps back away from him, Steve stood straight and looks at Bartroc, as he groans and stood up.

Sonya held her arm out to the side, her equipment flies back at her and places itself back onto her body in their right places. Bartroc was going to charge at her, but Steve charges at him, and rams him to the door, busting it off it's hinges, and Steve knocks him out as Sonya walks through the door.

"Well this is awkward." Natasha calls out, The Rogers Siblings look over at her.

Seeing that she was hacking into the computers. "What are you going?" Steve asks her, both of them walking over to her.

"Backing up the hard drive, it's a good habit to get into." she tells him.

"Rumlow needed your help, what are you doing?" Sonya asks her.

"Have a crush, Sonya?" Natasha asks her, "Don't turn this to me and answer the question." Sonya cross her arms.

Steve then looks at the screen. "You're saving S.H.E.I.L.D Intel." Steve answers.

"Whatever I can get my hands on." she tells them.

"Our mission was to save hostages." Sonya states, running her hand through her hair.

"No that was your mission." she said, the transfer completed and took out the drive and smiles at Steve. "And you've done a beautiful job." she tells him.

Natasha went to walk away, but Steve grips her arm, "You just jeopardized this whole operation." Steve warns her.

"I think that's overstating things." she tells him. Sonya sighs, face palming.

Then they all heard glass shuffle, they turn and saw Bartroc get up and throw a bomb at them, running for it, Steve pulls his shield out, smacking the bomb away from him, he then grips Sonya's waist with his shield arm and Natasha with his other arm, he then jumps onto the table, Natasha shoots at the window Steve then jumps through the glass. Sonya us d her powers to form a green bubble around them for protection, as the bomb went off.

Steve held Sonya close to him as she hid her face into her hands, making sure that the glass wasn't getting into her face.

They then crawled back and pressed their backs against the wall, Sonya laid against Steve as he looks out and saw no trace of Bartroc and leans against the wall, holding Sonya close.

"Alright, that one's on me." Natasha admits, Steve glares over at her and swung Sonya's arm over his shoulder.

"Ya damn right." he agrees with her, then stood up, pulling Sonya along with him, she groan a little as he helps her walk out, Natasha laid there, bangs her head lightly against the wall, knowing she screwed up, big time and not just on the mission.

 _ **S.H.E.I.L.D headquarters**_

Steve and Sonya barged into Fury's office, "You just can't stop yourself from lying, can you?" Steve question as the Siblings had no pleasant looks on their faces.

"I didn't lie, Agent Romanoff had a different mission than yours." Fury informs them.

"Which you didn't feel obliged to share." Sonya adds to the list.

"I'm not oblige to share anything." he tells her,

She growls a little, "Really, considering I was the one who helped found this organisation with Howard and Peggy and my clearance is the same level as yours"

Fury went quiet knowing she was right.

"Those hostages could of died, Nick." Steve tells him.

Fury turns to them, "I sent the greatest Soldier and Agent in history to make sure that didn't happen." he tells them.

Sonya press her hands to the desk, bending over a bit. "Soldiers and Agents are suppose to trust each other, that's that what makes it an army, not a bunch of guys running around and shooting guns." Steve tells him, making Fury stood up from his chair.

"Last time I trusted someone, I lost an eye." he tells them, but that doesn't change the fact the Fury didn't tell them, "Look I didn't want you two doing anything that you weren't comfortable with, Agent Romanoff is comfortable with everything." he tells them.

Sonya push herself off the desk, still upset. "We can't lead a mission when the people we lead have missions of their own." Steve tells him. "It's called compartmentalization; no body spills the secrets because nobody knows them all." he said and Sonya scuffs.

"Except you." she said, crossing her arms. He slowly pushes himself off the desk, "You're wrong about me, I do share. I'm nice like that." he tells them.

They all then walked into the elevator, "Insight bay." Fury tells the computer.

"Captain Rogers does not have clearance for project Insight." the computer tells him.

"Directive override, Fury Nicholas J." he tells the computer.

"Confirmed." the computer answers and the elevator took them down, Fury leans against the rail directly in front of the door, Steve was on the right, leaning against the railing arms folded in front of himself and Sonya was on the right, arms cross, left foot press to the wall and she leans her head back as well.

"You know they use to play music." Steve said, Sonya smirks a little as Fury chuckles.

"I know, my granddad use to operate one of these things for forty years. My granddad worked in a nice building, got good tips he'd walk home every night. A roll of ones stuffed into his lunch bag, he'd say 'Hi', people would say 'Hi' back. Time went on, neighborhood got rougher he say 'Hi', they say 'Keep on steppin'.' Granddad got a grip on that lunch a little tighter." Fury tells them.

"He ever get mugged?" Sonya asks him.

Fury looks at her and smiles. "Every week some punk would say, What's in the bag." Fury said.

"What did he do?" Steve asks him, "He'd show him a bunch of crumpled ones and a loaded 22 magnum." he answers, Sonya then pushes herself off the wall and looks out the elevator, pulling her arms out and grips the rail. "Granddad loved people, but he didn't trust them." Fury states, moving away from the rail and looks out the side on Steve's side.

The siblings then look over and step on both sides of Fury, "I know, they're a little bit bigger than a 22." he tells them as they all see 3 Helicarriers being constructed on, her grip on the railing tightens a little bit more.

Fury lead them around, seeing all the new upgrades in everything. "This are the three next generation Helicarriers, sync the satellite targeting." he tells them as Sonya looks up at the Helicarriers.

"Launch in the middle of a marine star?" Steve asks, getting Sonya to look at Fury as well.

"Once we got them in the air they never need to come down. Continues suborbital flight, certify of our new repulsors engines." he points to the wings.

"Stark?" Steve asks.

"He hand a few suggestions, once he got an up close look at our old turbines." he tells them and they stood in front of one of them. "These new long range procession guns can eliminate thousand hostiles on a minute, a satellite can read a terrorists D.N.A before he steps outside his spider-hole, we're going to neutralize a lot of threats before they happen." Fury tells them.

"I thought the punishment usually came after the crime?" Sonya ask him crossing her arms.

"We can't afford to wait that long." he tells her.

"Who's we?" Steve asks him.

"After New York, I convinced the world's security council we need a qumiel surge in Threat analyses. For once we're way ahead of the curb." he states.

Steve exchange looks with Sonya. "By holding a gun to everyone on earth and calling it protection." Steve said.

Fury looks over at the siblings as they look around. "You know I read those SSR files, the greatest generation." he said, the two look at him. "You guys did some nasty stuff." he said.

Steve steps into his space, "Yeah, we compromised, some times in ways that made us not sleep so well, but we did it so that people could be free. This isn't freedom, this is fear." Steve tells him.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. takes the world as it is, not as the world to be and it's getting pretty came pass time for you to be with the program, Cap, Psych." he tells them.

Sonya walked up to him and looks him in the eye. "Don't hold your breathe." she tells him and both she and Steve turn their back and walk away from him; they were dressed in their casual clothing, Steve had his shield and Sonya had her uniform in her bag, they both sat on Steve's motorcycle and they drove away from S.H.I.E.L.D HQ and to a place that brings back old and hurtful memories.

Steve had a baseball cap on and Sonya wore a set of glasses as they walk through the WW II exhibit, all the old relics. They both walked through Captain America and Psych section, _'Two symbols to the nation, heroes to the world. The story of Captain America and Psych is one of honor, bravery and sacrifice.'_ the intercom said as Sonya and Steve walk pass the wall portrait painting of his and Sonya. _'Both declined for enlistment, due to poor health and gender. Steve Rogers was chosen for a program unique in the animals of American war ware, One that would transform him into the world's super solider, Sonya Rogers was unique given her crafty ability and awareness, she took the last serum to make sure the enemy won't never defeat America during the mission Steve had disappeared._ ' the intercom said as a little boy saw Sonya and Steve Rogers, Sonya smiles at him and place her finger to her lips, the boy nods at her.

Steve and her both walked over to a video of Steve leading the soldiers, _'Battle tested, Captain America and the Howling Commandos quickly earned their stripes, their mission, taking down HYRDA, the Nazi rogue science division.'_ the intercom said as the two look at the uniforms of all the Commandos. Sonya sighs and looks around, her heart cracks a little as she saw a section of a old and never forgotten friend, she slowly walks up to it, Steve looks over and follows her. _'Best friends since childhood, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers and Sonya Rogers were inseparable in schoolyard and battlefield, Barnes is the only howling Commando, to give his life in serve of his country.'_ it said.

Sonya looks down and saw all three of them on the video panel, Bucky had his arm over her shoulder, holding her close and Steve next to them, both she and Bucky laugh as Steve just chuckles a little bit, Bucky then looks down at Sonya and puts a big kiss on her cheek, she just smiles and Steve just shook his head at them; Tears welled up in Sonya's eyes and she looks over at the portrait of Bucky, Steve place his arm over her shoulder, comforting her.

" _It was a difficult winter that night, a blizzard trapped half of our battalion behind the German line."_ an interview of Peggy as the Siblings sat down on the bench, watching it. " _Stev - Captain Rogers, he fought his way through a HYRDA blockade that had pin our Allies down for months, he saved over a thousand men_." She states, Steve looks down at his compass and opens it, a picture of Peggy. " _Including the man that would of become my husband, if it turned out, even after they died, Steve and Sonya were still changing my life._ " she said, trying to hold back her tears.

Steve sat next to Peggy, who was old and retired, Sonya sat on the other side, Sonya rub her thumb along Peggy's sleeve. "You should be proud of yourself, Peggy." Steve tells her, looking at the pictures of her family, Peggy looks over that them and smiles.

"Hmm, I lived a life, my only regret is that you didn't Steve." she tells them, Steve sighs and Sonya looks away.

"What is it?' she asks them, noticing this.

"For as long as Sonya and I can remember, we both wanted to do what was right." Steve said. Peggy looks over at Sonya.

"And now . . . we don't know what that is anymore and we thought we could. . . throw ourselves back into it, follow the orders and serve. S.H.I.E.L.D has changed so much over the years." she states, but then pulls on a smile as a tears slides down her cheek.

"It's just not the same." she states.

Peggy just chuckles, "Always so dramatic. Look you saved the world. You have for years" she tells her. Sonya looks at her, "We rather . . . muck it up." she states.

Sonya chuckles a bit. "You didn't, knowing you founded S.H.I.E.L.D is half the reason we stayed." Steve tells her.

"Hey." she grips their hands and place them on her belly. "The world has changed and none of us can go back, all we can do is our best and sometimes the best we can do is to start over." she said then started to cough.

Sonya grips her hand as Steve went and grab her a glass of water and sat back down. Peggy exhaled and looks over at Steve, she gasp in awe and looks over at Sonya that was holding her hand. "Sonya, Steve." she said looking from Sonya to Steve.

"You're alive." she chocks a little bit, Sonya fakes a smile as another tears slides down her other cheek, "You. . . you came back." she states.

"Yeah, Peggy." Steve whispers to her.

"It's been so long . . . so long." she cries.

"Well I couldn't leave my best girl, not when she owes me a dance." Steve tells her.

"And me a show." Sonya adds, as more tears stream down her face.

Steve and Sonya headed to the V.A where Sam works. They both stopped at the door and Steve leans against it, Sonya stood next to him.

"The thing it, the things get worse, A cop pulled me over last week, he thought I was drunk, I swerved. . . to miss a plastic bag. I thought it was a I.E.D." a woman said.

"Some stuff you leave there, other stuff you bring back. It's our job how to carry it, it is going to be in a big suit case or in a little man purse. It's up to you." Sam tells them.

Sonya reaches into her shirt and pulls out her dog tags and looks at them; ROGERS, Sonya S/Psych: BARNES, JAMES B/ BUCKY.

She clutches them in her hand and pulled them to her lips, still missing him; "See you next week." the woman tells Sam, he then saw two familiar faces.

"Well look who it is, the running man and woman." he said, fixing the cards.

"Yeah we caught the last few minutes, pretty tense." Steve tells him, as he leans against the wall.

"Yeah, brother, we all got the same problems, guilt, regret." he said catching the two's attention.

"Who did you lose?" Sonya asks.

"My wingman, Riley. Flying a night mission, standard rescue op nothing we haven't done thousand times before, until a R.P.J knocked Riley's dumbass right out of the sky. Nothing I could do." he tells them.

Sonya nods a little bit, "It was like I was up there just to watch." he states.

"I'm sorry." Steve tells him.

"After that, I've had a really hard time, being over there, you know." he tell them, they nod.

"But are you happy now, back in the world?" Steve asks him.

"The number of people giving me orders is down to about Zero, so hell yeah." he answers.

"So do you think about getting out?" he asks them.

"No." Steve answers as Sonya answers, "Maybe." they look at each then back at Sam.

"No." Sonya answers as Steve answers, "Maybe." , they both sigh as Sam just smiles at the two, "We don't know." the two answer.

"To be honest we don't know what we'll do with ourselves if we did." Steve tells him.

"Ultimate fighting?" Sam asks, they both chuckled.

"No seriously, it's a really great idea off of the top of my head. You can do whatever you want to do, what makes you happy?" he asks them.

They look at him, "We don't know."

Fury drove down the road, "Open secure channel 42.24." he tell the computer.

" _This is Hill._ " Agent Hill answers.

"I need you here in D.C. Deep shadow constitutions." Fury tells her.

" _I'll be there in four hours._ " she answers.

"I give you 3 over and out." Fury ended the call and stops at the red light, as a police car stops right next to him, Fury looks down at the two cops in the car, "You want to see my licence?" he questions them, they turn on their sirens and drove off.

Fury went to drive off as well, but another rams right in the back and slams his car up against the pole, then the car ahead stops and pulls back. Then two more cars came in, boxing him in.

Fury pulls himself up and looks around, them the computer informs him that there are no units in the Area.

"Get me out of here." he tells the computer and the fake police fire onto Fury's car, the armor was greatly damaged, they then brought out the hammer, placing it next to Fury's window, making him move to the side, the hammer did a lot of damage to the window, but Fury waited and until it was to one percent, he pulls out his mini machine gun and fires at them, killing almost all of them.

Then fires at the van and the police car, making that car flip and land on the other one, "Full throttle." he tells the computer; it kicks the car into high, but the car in front of it blocks his from leaving, it pulls back and took off, thus beginning the car chase. Fury took over the wheel as he tries to outrun the the fakes. "Get me Agent Hill." he orders the computer, but communication were down.

"Well what is not damaged?" he asks it, Air conditioning was fulling operational, yeah that what everyone need, a cool down when your life is at stake.

Fury need to get off the streets, he need to get to less traffic, but almost every route was blocked, he whams the cars that were in his path, he then was blocked in, so he tries to get out, but some of the fakes come and fire at him, so he slams into the car, making the fakes fly off and hitting the ground and he got himself out of the blockage and drives off. And so as fakes they chase after him. One came up beside Fury and fire at him, Fury leans back and dodges their bullets, they pass a few trunks in between them. Both when the police car was in the clear, Fury took his chance and whams into them, gripping the man's gun.

Then another police car came on the other side, pinning him in, Fury took away his gun so he reaches for his other one and pulled out his handgun, but Fury knocks that out of his hand as well and socks him in the face. Then an intersect came into view, Fury slams on his breaks and the two police cars didn't stop and a semi-truck slams into them, killing the men inside.

"Get me off the grid." Fury orders the computer, As Fury drives, a man in a black attire, mask and black goggles came into view, and his left arm... look like metal. He held a rifle in his hand and aims it at Fury's car, he fires and a disk of some sort flies out and low, pinning itself right under Fury's car. Then boom, it goes off and Fury's car back end flies up and slides forward on it's front, the man moves to the side and moves out of the way, letting the car fly forward, it lands on it's top, upside down and stops at the intersection, the assassin walks up to the car, Fury looked over at the man then pulls out a tool of his.

The assassin walks next to the door, gripping the handle with it's metal arm and tore it right off the hinges, he kneels down in looks inside saw that it was empty, the only thing that was in there was a carve hole in the ground and it was freshly made as well.

Later as it was night, Steve drove his motorcycle back to the apartments, Sonya sat behind him, arms wrap around his waist keeping herself from falling, Steve then parks his bike, turning it off, Sonya pulls herself off, adjusting the satchel on her shoulder as Steve got off as well.

They both then headed inside and jog up the stairs, they then run into their neighbor, Kate who look to be on the phone with someone and holding a basket of clothes, they stop at their door as her call ended, "My aunt, she can be kind of an insomniac." she tells him when she toss her cell into the basket.

Steve nods at her, Sonya smirks a little and took the keys from Steve. "Hey if you want, if you want. You're welcome to use our machine, might be cheaper than the one in the basement."

Steve offers to her, "Oh yeah, what's it cost?" she asks him.

"Cup of coffee." he answers, Sonya drops the keys to the apartment, the two look over at her, she hides the smirks and snickers.

"Don't mind me." she tells them then bends down and picks up the keys.

Kate smiles a little, "Thank you, but I already have a load down stairs and I really don't think you would want my scrubs in your machine. I just finish the rotation in the infectious disease wards, so. . ." she tell them.

"Wow, well. I'll keep my distance." Steve states.

"Hopefully not too far." she said, Sonya shook her head and walks to the door, Steve follows her as Kate goes to walk away. "Oh and I think you left your stereo on." she tells them.

"Oh right, thank you." he tells her and she walks down the steps, but Steve and Sonya looks at each other.

"We never leave music on." Sonya whispers to him then place her ear to the door. It was the forties music playing. Steve pats her shoulder and they both went to find another way in.

Quietly opens the window and moves inside, he then held out his hand and helps Sonya inside as well, they quietly walk through their apartment, Sonya quietly puts down her satchel and readies herself just incase she needs to use her powers

They move over to the wall and Steve grab a hold of his shield and press their backs against the wall quietly, Steve looks over the way and saw Fury was leaning in the chair, playing an old recorder of theirs, Steve sighs as he relaxes.

Leaning against the wall, Sonya walks out, and saw Fury was well, she sigh and leans against the wall opposite of Steve crossing her arms and legs. "I don't remember giving you a key." Steve tells him.

Fury groans a bit as he sat up, "You really think I need one?" he asks them.

Sonya catches on with he groans, "My wife. . . kicked me out." he tells them.

Sonya uncrosses her arms and pushes herself off the wall. "Didn't know you were marry." Steve states.

- _Fury? what is it?_ \- Sonya asks him using her telepathy.

"A lot of things you don't know about me." he answers Steve. - _S.H.I.E.L.D has been compromise HYDRA has has taken over._ \- he tells her.

"I know Nick, that's the problem." Steve said walking over to the switch and turning on the light.

Fury was wounded and covered in his own blood, Steve went to say something but Fury stops him and turns off the light. - _Beware of the Winter Soldier._ \- he warns her, as he types away on his cell and shows him the message. " **Ears Everywhere.** " it said.

Sonya walks up next to Steve as he looks around, "I'm sorry I have to do this. But I had no place else to crash." he tells them then showed them another message, " **S.H.I.E.L.D Compromised.** " it said.

Sonya looks at the Cell and back at Fury, "Who else knows about your wife?" she asks him, she forces himself up and shows them the real answer, " **You, Steve and me.** " it said.

"Just my friends." he answers walking to the siblings

"Is that what we are?" Steve questions him.

"That's up to you." he tells him, then three shots came through the window, hitting Fury in the chest, Sonya and Steve were shock and Fury landed in Sonya's arms and she looks to the window, seeing silver and drags Fury behind the wall, Steve covered her with his shield.

She places him on the ground, then went to see the shooter, but Fury grips her arm, making her look down at him, he then lets do and gave her the hard drive.

"Don't. . . trust. . . anyone." he warns her and went limp on the ground. Sonya looks at him in shock then they heard the door being bang on, it was then broken down, Steve pulls Sonya close to him as they hid behind the wall,

"Captain Rogers, Agent Psych?" Kate calls out as she had a gun out. "Captain, Agent. I'm Agent Thirteen, of S.H.I.E.L.D special task force." she tells them

"Kate?" Steve asks as they pull off the wall and Steve lets go of Sonya, "I was assigned to protect you." she tells them.

"On who's order?" Steve asks her.

She looks down at Fury, "His." she said.

"Since when do I need protection. I've never had protection detailed to me."

Kate just looks at her without an answer then moves over next to Fury, then pulls out her radio.

Sonya place the drive in her pocket as she moves back over to the window, "Fox trot is down and unresponsive, I need EMT here and now." Kate said over the radio as Steve walks over next to Sonya.

"Do we have a 20 on the shooter?" he man over the radio answers. The silver then moves. "Tell them we're in pursuit." Steve said to her.

Steve and Sonya jump out the window, Steve adds in the other building as Sonya flies up and lands on the roof, both chasing after him.

Steve ran through walls and jumps over tables as Sonya jumps over big dent boxes, slowly catching up with him, he then jumps down and she follows, she then heard glass break behind her and ducks when Steve throw his shield at the shooter, Sonya was on one knee as the Shooter catches the shield with his metal arm. The two look into the Shooter's blue eyes as his medium long brown hair covers his eyes a bit, Steve glares at the assassin as Sonya just looks at him.

The Assassin threw the shield back at Steve, making him slide back a bit, Sonya pulls out her gun and fires at him, be blocks the bullets with his metal arm, she lowers her gun and he pulls his gun out and aims it at her.

She leans back a bit, but saw he hesitate a bit and just as he fires, she uses her powers put make a shield in front of her.

He leaps over the edge, Steve ran over to the edge and saw that the assassin was gone. Sonya ran over to him and looks over as well. The Assassin was long gone.

Natasha arrives at the hospital and ran into the room where Sonya and Steve watch the surgery, Sonya had her back to the window, refusing to even watch as Natasha stood next to her. "Is he going to make it?" Natasha asks him.

"I don't know." Steve answers.

"Tell me about the shooter." she asks of them.

"He's fast, strong, had a metal arm." Sonya tell her, Natasha stiffen.

Sonya narrows her eyes to her. _-You know who he is don't you?_ \- she questions Natasha using her telepathy, she looks away. _-Don't back out of this one, answer my question.-_ Sonya demands, making Natasha flinch.

 _-I'm not fully sure who it is yet, I need to work out my facts first.-_ she tells her.

Sonya sighs as Agent Hill stood next to Natasha. "Ballistics." Natasha said.

"Three slugs, no rifling, completely untraceable." Hill informs them.

"Soviet made." Natasha said, making Hill look at her.

"Yeah." Hill answers, then Nick went into cardiac arrest, making more doctors come and work faster, then Rumlow and Jasper walked up behind them, Sonya's hand tightens with the flash drive in it.

"Come on Nick, don't do this to me." Natasha mumbles. Sonya flinches, hearing the electric pads inject energy into Fury, both results the same; no response, then Steve and Sonya walk out of the room as the doctors were taking the time of death; 1:03am.

Later on Natasha, Sonya Steve stood in a room where Fury's corpse was laid on a stretcher and white sheet overs him, up to his shoulders. Natasha stood next to him as Steve and Sonya lean against the door, Hill walks over to them.

"We need to take him." she tells them as she chokes up a bit.

Steve nods and walks over to his friend "Natasha." he said to her, she place her hand on Fury's head and walks out of the room.

Steve and Sonya follows after her, "Natasha." Sonya calls out to her as they enter the hall, she turns and looks at them.

"Why was Fury in your apartment?" she questions them, Sonya shrugs her shoulder, "I don't know." Steve answers.

"Captain, Psych, you're wanted back at S.H.I.E.L.D." Rumlow tells them, they look at him.

"Alright, we'll be there soon." Sonya tells him, "They want you now, Ma'am." he tell her.

She looks at him and nods. "Alright." she answers and he walks off, they turn back to Natasha.

"You're a terrible liar." Natasha tells Steve and walks off, Sonya sighs then looks down at her hand, pulling it up and looking at the vending machine, she looks over at Steve, he catches onto her idea.

They then walk to Rumlow. "Let's move." Steve tells him tells him, "S.T.R.I.K.E let's move it out." he orders the men and the leave, but in the vending machine behind the bubble gum; the silver hard drive.


	3. Chapter 3

Later the next morning S.H.I.E.L.D was on high alert. Steve and Sonya walked through the hallway, dress in uniform, along with their equipment to Alexander Pierce office, where Pierce just got done talking with Kate, "Captain, Agent." she tells them.

"Neighbour." they both said and walk into the office.

"Ah Captain, Agent, I'm Alexander Pierce." he held out his hand to them.

"Sir, it's an honour." Steve shook his hand, Sonya shook his hand as well.

"The honours mine Captain, my father serve in the 101st." he tells them and beckons them into his office. They both walked into the office and look at the photo handed to them, "That photo was taken five years ago when Nick and I meet, when I was at state department in Pototave. Leland rebels took the embassy and Security got me out, but the rebels took hostages. Nick was Deputy chief of the S.H.I.E.L.D station down there and he comes to me with a plan, he wants to storm the building through the sewers and I said, No, we'll negotiate, turn out the E.L.M did negotiate and they put out a kill order. They storm the basement and what do they find, it was empty." he tells them, placing the file down on the table.

"Nick had defied my direct order and carry out an unauthorized military operation on foreign soil, he saved the lives of a dozen political officers, including my daughter." he tells them when they sat down on the couches.

"So you gave him a promotion?" Steve asks him.

"I never gave him a cause that he didn't regret." he tells them, Sonya sighs. "Captain, why was Fury in your apartment late night?" he asks them Steve looks over at Sonya.

"We don't know." she answers.

"Was it bugged?" he asks, she shrugs her shoulders.

"Perhaps." she answers.

"Did he tell you he was the one that bugged it?" he asks her.

"Nothing specific, he didn't give us the full details." she tells him, he nods.

"I want to show you something." he tells them and turns on a video, seeing that they captured an acquaintance of their.

"Is that live?" Steve asks him.

"Yeah, they pick him up last night in a not so safe house in Lejurses." he informs them.

"You're saying he's a suspect?" Steve asks him.

"Not possible. Assassination isn't one of Bartroc many qualities." Sonya adds.

"No, no, no. It's more complicated than that, Bartroc was hired anomalously to capture the star by email and paid by wire transfers, and the money was run through seventeen accounts." he said, making the siblings look over at him. "The last going to a hold company was register to a Jacob Viche." he handed the file to Steve.

"Are we supposed to know what that is?" Steve asks him as he looks over the file.

"Not likely, Viche died over six years ago. His last address was 1435 Elmer's drive. When I first meet Nick, his mother lived at 1437." he tells them and they both look at her.

"Are you suggesting Fury himself hired the pirates, why?" Sonya questions him.

"The pro-veiling theory. Was it that the hijacking was a cover for the acquisition and sell or classified intelligence." he states, Steve looks back at the files.

"The sell went sour and that lead to Nick's death." he adds.

Sonya looks at him, "If you really knew Nick Fury as you claim to, you know that isn't true." Sonya tells him.

He nods at her, "Why do you think we're talking?" he asks her and stood up, they follow in pursuit, "You see I took a seat on the council not because I wanted to but because Nick ask me too. Because we were both realist." he said and walks up to the window and leans against it. "We knew that despite all the diplomacy and the hand shaking and the redbrick, that to build a better world sometimes you have to tear the old one down." he said, Sonya glares at him, he then turns and looks at them.

"And that makes enemies. Those people that call you both dirty is because you have the guts to stick her hands in the mud and try to build something better and the idea that those people can be happy today, makes me really, really angry." he said and went straight to the point,

"Captain, you and your sister were the last ones to see Nick alive and that's no accident and I don't think you do either." he tells them, they just look at him, "So I'm going to ask again, why was he there?" he asks them again.

"We don't know, it's like I said before, he said nothing specific, he never shared any details with us." Sonya tells him, he nods at her.

"Anything else?" he asks her.

"No, just that he died on our floor." she tells him, he just sighs.

"Excuse us." she tells him and they both leave the office as Steve place his shield on his back.

"Captain, Agent. Somebody murdered my friend I'm going to find out why and if anybody gets in my way, they'll going to regret it. Anyone." he promises them,

"Understood." Steve tells him

They exit the office and walk to the elevator. - _why did you lie?_ \- Steve asks her as the step in front of the elevator.

- _You heard what Fury said, not to trust anyone and that means Alexander as well, there's something about him and I don't like it. I couldn't even read his mind_ \- she tells him, the door than opens, and they both step inside.

Steve looks out the window. "Operations control." he tells the computer. " _Confirmed_." it responded.

It went to close the door, but Rumlow and some of S.T.R.I.K.E force walks into the elevator.

"S.T.R.I.K.E force on sight." he said through the comm. "Captain, Agent." he nods to them.

Steve turns to him. "Rumlow." he said back, and hand his back press to the railing.

- _What gave it away, that Alexander was up to something?-_ he asks her after she leans against the wall.

 _-He spoke highly of Fury then accuses him of hiring the pirates, Nick is a smart man, he may hide secrets but, he would never endanger S.H.I.E.L.D like that, unless for a good damn reason.-_ she tells him.

"Evidence response frenzies wanted us to see on the roof, you want me to get the tack team ready?" Rumlow asks him.

"No let's wait to see what it is first." Steve tells him.

"Right." he answers, Steve looks over and saw one of them gripping his weapon. - _Sonya. . ._ \- Steve calls out in his mind,

 _-I know.-_ she answers, hearing their thoughts then the door opens, men in suits and brief cases walk in, Sonya narrows her eyes at them, then closes, they make Steve stand in the middle.

"I'm sorry with what happened to Fury, mess up what happen to him." Rumlow tells him, making Steve look at him.

"Thank you." he said to him, then looks over at one of the men in the suit, cold sweat rolls down his temple. Then the door opens again and the rest of S.T.R.I.K.E forces enters the elevator and the elevator moves.

"Before we get started, does anyone want to get out?" Steve questions them.

Then they attacked them, and Sonya was grab by the neck and slam up against the wall and Steve was slam up against the wall next to her. They went to cuff Steve, but Sonya kicks the cuff out of their hands kicks them back at the windows, knocking them out. She then kicks the one in the gut, making him let her go, she then right hooks him in the face and he fell to the ground, Sonya looks over at the others holding her brother, she thrust her hand out threw them against the door, Steve lands onto his feet and they both look over at Rumlow.

"Whoa, there, I just want you two know, it's nothing personal." shouts and swings at them, but Sonya grabs the back of his neck and electrifies him enough to make him pass out.

"Really, cause it kind of feel like it's personal." she tells him, letting go and he collapse to the ground.

Steve glares at him then walks over to Sonya, cupping her face, checking for injuries. "I'm alright." she tells him, he lets out a sigh and press his lips to her forehead and hold her tight in his arms.

He then pulls back. "Let's get out of here." he tells her, she nods and Steve moves to the elevator doors. Seeing that they were at the bottom of the next floor, but saw Agents running at them, guns pointed at them.

Steve closes the door and pulls his shield off his back and onto his arm, he then looks out the window, seeing where they are. He then steps back and pulls Sonya behind him. "I'm not going to like this plan, am I?" she asks him.

"Nope, you might want to wrap your arms around my neck." he tells her.

"Okay." she answers and wraps her arms tightly around his neck and he break through the glass and they fall to through the glass roof of the lobby and right before the crash land Sonya uses her powers to stop them face planting on the floor.

Steve looks down and he plops on the ground. Sonya props herself on top of him. "You're welcome." she groans and rolls off of him.

"Thanks." he groans and the both sat up seeing the other agents look at them. Steve stood up, then helps Sonya to her feet and they ran.

They both then mounted Steve's bike and he drove out of the garage just in time as the door closed, he drove along the road and saw the gate was closed along with spikes poking out and a Qin-jet flies out and spots far in front of them.

"Sonya fly!" Steve orders her, Sonya jumps into the air, her green flames surrounding her and flew into the air and she grips the jet with her mind and crushed one of the wings.

"All yours Steve!" Sonya shouts, then heard static in her ear peace. She flinches a little and the static clears out as Rumlow's voice came on.

" _Sonya, don't do this. Just come back._ " he begs her.

"I can't." she tells him, taking out the earpiece and crushes it in her hand. Then saw the Qin-jet spiral out of control, she flew over it and Steve held out his hand and she grips onto his arm and flew him off the Qin-jet, and the Qin-jet exploded, the wave knocks Sonya and Steve out of the air and they hit the ground and rolls right onto their bellies.

They watch as the jet crash lands on the road in front of the garage, Sonya props herself on her elbows,

"Steve. . . we need to get that hard drive." he tells him, he nods at her. "Yeah. Double time it." he said and they pull themselves off the ground and took off running.

They ditch their S.H.I.E.L.D uniforms and were wearing casuals clothes, Steve wore his hood over his head as his sister wore a baseball cap, Sonya had her hair pulled back into a ponytail and through the hole in the back of her cap and wore glasses along with a hoodie, a black tank top under her hoodie, tight black jean along with black boots; Steve wore his white shirt, with his jacket over his hoodie pants along with Romeos. They walked the hallway of the hospital and got to the vending machine and saw that the bubble gum section was gone, along with the drive.

"Where is it?" Sonya whispers to him, they both then saw Natasha walk up from behind them in the reflection, enjoying her bubble gum. Steve and Sonya turned to her, anger looks on their faces and Steve shoves her into a room and Sonya closes the door behind them. Steve shoves her up against a wall and pulls off his hood,

"Where is it?" Steve questions her.

"Safe." she answers.

"It better be." Sonya growls at her.

"Where did you get it?" she asks them,

"And why would we even tell you?" Sonya questions her.

Natasha realizes. "Fury gave it to you, why?" she asks again.

"What's on it?" Steve questions her.

"I don't know." she answers.

"Stop lying." Steve demands of her.

"I only act like I know everything, Rogers." she tells him.

"I bet you knew that Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?" he questions her.

"Well I guess it makes sense, Fury needed a way in and so did you." she tells them.

Sonya grips her throat tightly. "We're not going to ask you again." she growls at her, she looks between them.

"I know who killed Fury." she tells them, Sonya looks at her and loosen in her grip and lets go.

"Most of the in-source intelligence believe he didn't exist. The ones that do call him the Winter Soldier, he's credited with over 2 dozen assassinations in the last 50 years." she informs them.

"So he's a ghost story." Steve states, "5 years ago, I was part of an escort for an nuclear engineer on the run, my tires were shot out near Odessa control, I went straight over a cliff. I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there, I was covering my engineer so he shot him right through me." she said, showing them the scar. "Silver slug. Bye-bye bikinis." she adds.

Sonya sighed, calming down. "Yeah I bet you'll look terrible in them now." Steve tells her, calming down as well.

"Going after him is a dead end. I know, I've tried. Like you said he's a ghost story." she said and shows them the hard drive.

Steve looks at her and Sonya took the drive from her hand. "Lets find out what the ghost wants."

Sonya, Steve and Natasha walked through the mall, Steve kept looking over his shoulders. "First rule of going on the run, don't run." she tells them. Sonya smiled at her.

Sonya looks over at Steve. "Stop doing that, you'll draw attention to us." she whispers to him.

"If Sonya or I run in these shoes, they'll fall off." he said, Sonya held in a snicker and they walk into a tech store and the three stood in front of a laptop and Natasha types away.

"This drive has a level 6 homing beacon, so as soon as we boot up. S.H.I.E.L.D will track us in no time." she tells them.

"How much time do we have?" Steve asks her.

"Uh. . . about nine minutes from. . . now." she tells them and plugs in the drive. Sonya watches over her shoulder as Natasha looks for the source. But then listens in on other people's thoughts.

"Sonya what do you hear?" Steve asks her, her eyes shot from person to person.

"Everything." she answer.

"Fury was right about that ship, somebody was trying to hide something. This drive is sort of protected by some A.I and it keep rewriting itself somehow." she tells them.

Then a clerk walks over to them. "Can I help you with anything?" he asks them, they look at him.

"Oh no, my fiancé was helping me with some honeymoon destinations." Natasha tells him. Sonya held back a laugh.

"Yeah, we're getting marry." Steve adds.

Natasha swung her over Sonya's shoulder and "And my little sister promise to be my planner and maid of honour." she said and Sonya waves a little.

And they both turn back to computer. "Congratulations, where do you plan on going?" he asks them, Sonya looks at the computer and saw that the tracking was done.

"New Jersey." she answers, the man nods and looks at Steve and Sonya stiffens a little.

"I have the exact same lens." he tells him. Sonya and Steve sigh, "Wow you two are practically twins." Natasha jokes dryly.

He was about to ask them something else when Sonya got close to him and looked him straight in the eyes, "You will walk away, forget that we were here and if anyone asks, you never saw us"

Steve looked at her, "What did you do to him?"

Sonya shrugged, "Just a little Jedi mind trick as they say". Natasha snickered.

Steve looked at both of them, "What?"

Sonya rolled her eyes, "Once this is over, you and I are having a Star Wars movie binge"

Steve looks down at his watch, "You said nine minutes, right, let's go." he tells her.

"Shh, relax. Got it." Natasha tells her. Sonya and Steve look at the and saw Wheaton, NJ. Both the siblings look grew intense. The spy notices this, "You two know it?" she asks them.

"We use to. Let's go." Steve took the drive out and places it in Sonya's satchel and they all walk out of the store, "Stagger tag team, two across, two behind, two coming straight at us." he warns them, Sonya eyes all of them, "If they detect us, I'll engage, you and Sonya run for the east elevator." he instructs them.

Sonya shook her head and took out a book. "Shut up and put your arm around me and laugh at something I said." Natasha orders him, he just looks at her as Sonya open the book to a random page pretend to read.

"Do it." she growls a little. Steve did as she told him and fakes a laugh.

The two pass then without a second glance. Steve looks over his shoulder, surprise that even work, "Don't stare, they'll think you're hiding something." Sonya whispers to him.

Steve nods at her and they head for the escalator, then Sonya spots Rumlow, she turns to the side and looks at the decorations.

"Kiss me." Natasha orders Steve.

"What?" he questions her.

"Public display of affection makes people uncomfortable." she tells him.

"Yes, they do." he agrees, Natasha then grips his side of his head and press her lips to his. Making a few people uncomfortable.

Rumlow looks away as he went up. Then Natasha pulled away and Sonya looks down at them a small smirk on her lips.

"You still uncomfortable?" Romanoff asks him and walks down the escalator.

"That not exactly the word I would use." Steve tells her, Sonya giggles as they followed after Natasha.

Now entering New Jersey, the state garden. Steve drove a truck, Natasha sat up front as Sonya was in back, leaning against Steve's seat. "Where did Captain America and Agent Psych learn how to steal a car?" Natasha asks them. Sonya smirks a little,

"Please, I've done a lot of things, even before you were born Romanoff" Sonya says smugly as Natasha rolls her eyes.

Steve shakes his head at his sister, "Nazi, Germany. And we're borrowing, take your feet off the dash." Steve tells her, She looks at him, smirks and removes her feet from the dash.

"Okay, I have a question for you, which you do not have to answer, but you might answer to though, you always do." she rambles.

"What?" he stops her rambling.

"Was that your first kiss since 1945?" Natasha asks, Sonya covers her mouth to stop the snickers.

"That bad, huh?" he states.

"I didn't say that." Natasha inputs.

"Well it kind of sounds like that's what you're saying." he states.

"No, I just, I kind of want to know how much practice you had." she asks.

"You know I don't need practice." Steve denies. Sonya rolls her eyes.

"Everybody needs practice." Natasha inputs. "It was not my first kiss since 1945. I'm 95, Sonya is 93 and we're not dead." Steve said.

"Nobody special now." Natasha tells him, he just scuffs. "You know it's kind of hard to find somebody that shares the same life experience." he tells her.

"Well that's alright, you just make something up." she tells him, Sonya leans back and looks out the window.

"What like you?" Steve asks her.

"I don't know, the truth is a matter of circumstances, it's not all things stop people, all the time. Either am I." she tells him.

"That's a tough way to live." he tells her.

"It's a good way not to die though." He adds, "You know it's kind of hard to trust someone, when you don't know who that someone really is." Steve tells her.

Sonya looks up at the two. "Yeah. . . . who do you want me to be?" Natasha asks him.

"How about a friend?" Sonya asks her, Natasha looks back at her and chuckles a little. "There's a chance that you may be in the wrong business, Rogers." Natasha tells her.

Sonya just smiles and prop her temple on her knuckles, "Don't try to act tough. I can see right through it." she said and looks back out the window.

Natasha frowns at her a little bit and they arrive at the destination, the three exited the truck as they arrive, Steve had his shield out as Sonya and was prepared for anything that was thrown at them.

They all walk up to the abandoned military base camp. "Is this it?" Steve asks.

"This is where the file came from." Natasha tells him,

"So did we." Steve answers, making Natasha look at him.

Night fell and the three wandered around the abandoned structure, "This camp is where Sonya and Me were trained." Steve tells her.

"Change much?" Natasha asks, as she follow the signal.

Sonya looks up at the flagpole and stood rooted in her spot. "A little." she answers, then could hear their commanding officer shouting out his orders, a squadron of trainees wearing their packs and carrying their guns. They watch them run by and saw small Steve, and normal Sonya ran back to him, placing her hand on his shoulder, with concern in her eyes, he nods at her and they both look their future selves in the eyes.

"Rogers, move it!" their CO shouts at them and they took off running, the ghost fade to nothing.

"Well this is a dead end, zero heat signatures, waves, not even radio." he said as she placed her tracker away.

Sonya looks around, "Who ever wrote the file must of used a router to throw people off." she tells them, Steve's face hardens as the two saw a building out of place.

"What is it?" Natasha asks him and he walks off.

Sonya and Natasha followed. "Army regulations forbids storing ammunition within 500 yards within the barracks. This building is in the wrong place." Steve tells the spy as they walk up to the door.

"Sonya... some help." Steve asks, she nods, stepping up to door, she raise her hand up, clutches her hand, breaking the lock off then sends a wave of telekinetic energy towards the doors to open them.

They walk in and down the steps, then Natasha turns on a switch and the light blink on, showing the old S.H.I.E.L.D HQ.

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D." she states, the three slowly walk through the room. "Maybe where it started?." Steve mumbles.

Sonya shook her head, "Not that I know of" they then walk through a door that Steve opened and saw three pictures with three familiar people.

"There's Tony's father." Natasha said.

"Howard." Steve corrects.

"Coronal Phillips, never expected him to found S.H.I.E.L.D. Back then but he did" Sonya mumbles and they both look over a Peggy's photo.

"Whose the girl?" Natasha asks them, they look at Peggy's photo with sad eyes and move along.

Sonya walks up to a bookcase and looks at it, it was similar to the one when Steve went to perform the Super soldier project.

"Steve. . ." she starts.

"I know. When you're working in a secret office. . ." he starts and pushes open a hidden room. "Why do you need to hide the elevator?" he asks them. Natasha scans the numbers on the side, gets the code and the elevator opens.

They all went inside and went down, they reached the bottom floor and the doors opened, showing them a dark room, they look around and Sonya slowly steps into the room, the two follow after her. The doors close behind them and as they walk through the room, lights flick on and the room was an old computer room. Back from 1945.

"This can't be the data point, these computers, this technology is ascent." Natasha informs them, Sonya scoff a little then looks at the hard drive plug in strip. She walks over to it, pulling out the hard drive from her satchel and place into the strip, as the other two step up behind her and everything came online, everything was working and operating.

Natasha walks up beside her, looking at the bigger monitor. 'Initiate system?' the screen asks. "Y-E-S. Yes." she types in. then smirks, "Shall we play a game?" she quotes, Sonya rolls her eyes.

Natasha looks at the two, "It's from a movie, that was real popular. . ." she starts.

"We know, we've seen it." Steve stops her, then the camera on top of the big monitor turns to Steve as a face appears on the screen. "Rogers, Steven born 1918." the familiar voice states, then turns to Sonya. "Rogers, Sonya, born 1920." he states.

Sonya looks at her in shock, then the camera turns to Natasha. "Romanoff, Nateleia Alenofna, born 1984." he said.

Sonya stiffens in her spot. "It's some kind of recording." Natasha states.

"I am not a recording, Fraulein. I may not be the man I was when the Captain and Agent took me prisoner in 1945, but I am." he states, Sonya covers her mouth.

"It can't be. . ." she mumbles and removes her hand from her mouth. "Doctor Martin Zola." she states.

"It is so lovely to see you again, Ms. Rogers." he states, sending negative shivers down her spine.

Natasha looks at her, "You know this thing?" she asks her, Sonya looks away. Steve pulls her away and gently rubs her back. "Martin Zola was a German scientist that work with the red skull. He's been dead for years." he states, Sonya grips onto his sleeve, calming down.

"False correction I am swace, look around you, I have never been more alive." he tells them. Sonya pulls out of his arms and stood firm.

"In 1972, I receive a terminal diagnosis science could not save my body. My mind however that was worth saving, on 200,000 data banks. You are standing in my brain." he tells them and Sonya walks up next to Natasha.

"How the hell did you get here?" Sonya questions him, "Invited." he answers.

"There was a operation, paperclip after world war two. S.H.I.E.L.D recruited German scientists with. . . surgic value." Natasha informs her.

"Yes. . . they thought I could help the cause. I also help my own." he adds. "HYDRA died with the red skull." Steve states.

Sonya shook her head. "Cut off one head and two more shall takes it's place." Zola tells them.

"Prove it." Steve dares him and the monitors on the sides flash on, showing them, information.

"Accessing archive; HYDRA was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with it's own freedom. What we did not realized is that if you try and take that freedom, they resist." he states as the videos of Steve and Sonya come into play. "The war taught us much. Humanity need to surrender it's freedom willingly. After the war, S.H.I.E.L.D was founded after the war and I was recruited, the new HYDRA grew beautiful parasite inside S.H.I.E.L.D." he tells them,

Sonya clutches her fist. "For seventy years HYDRA has been secretly feeding prices, weeping war. And when history did not cooperate, history was changed." the image of the Winter Soldier's metal arm passes through.

"That's impossible, S.H.I.E.L.D would of stop you." Natasha throws in, then a newspaper article was shown of Howard Stark and his wife, saying they died in a car accident.

"Accidents will happen." he states, as a report of Nick Fury's death as well, rage boils in her blood, knowing her friends was murdered. "HYDRA created a world so chaotic, humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security. Once the purification process is complete HYDRA's new world order will arise. We won Captain, Agent. Your deaths among the world, the same as your lives. A zero sum." Zola tells them everything.

Sonya snaps, pulls her fist back and slams it forward, breaking through the screen, the two look at her in shock and she pulls her fist out of the now broken screen.

Then Zola appears on another monitor, getting their attention. "As I was saying. . ." he states, Sonya walks up to the strip and points at the hard drive.

"What's on this drive?" she questions him.

"Project Insight requires insight, so I wrote an algorithm." he answers.

"What kind of algorithm, what does it do?" Natasha asks him.

"The answer to your question is fascinating. . . unfortunately you shall be too dead to hear it." he said, the heavy doors in front of the elevator close, Steve throws his shield at it, but it just bounces off of the sealed doors and flies back at Steve.

Natasha scanner went off, making the two look at her. "Guys we got a boggy, short range ballistic, 30 seconds tops." she informs them.

"Who fired it?" Steve asks her.

"S.H.I.E.L.D." she answer, the three look around quickly.

"As you see Captain and Agent, I have been stalling." he tells them, Sonya threw out her hand and the hard drive flew into her hand and she quickly place it into her satchel.

"Admit it, it's better this way." Zola went on.

Steve looks at one of the vents in the ground, ran to it and pulls it out of the way. "We are both of us. . . . are out of time." he said as they three jump into the small space. Natasha went in first, Follow by Sonya and Steve follow after his sister.

The bombers came, and destroying the base; everything crumbles around them, Sonya thrust her hands out, creating a bubble like field around them as the rumble collapse on them. Sonya shouts, holding on and everything went dark.

The collapsing stop and stay in place. Sonya pants, dropping the force field and falling to her hands and knees, Steve whams his shoulder to the loose wall next to them. It came loose and falls to the side. Steve and Natasha stumble out of the small created room and Sonya leans back on her back against the rumbled wall. Steve looks back at her, walks over to her and pulled Sonya into his arms. The two ran of the area, staying out of sight.

Rumlow and the rest of S.T.R.I.K.E force scouted the area, Rumlow came to were the push out crumble way he looks down and saw two footprints in the dirt, head away from the area. He walks away and place his hand to his earpiece, "Call in the Asset." he said through the line.

That same night, Alexander walks through his house and headed into his kitchen, opening his fridge and pulls out the carton of milk, he sets it down and saw the Winter Soldier sitting at the table, within the shadows, light shines on his blue eyes and a silver gun place on the table.

He just sat there looking at Pierce. Pierce closes the door and looks at the soldier. "I'm going to go Mr Pierce you need anything before I leave." his house maid tells him.

"No, it's fine Renotta you can go home." he tells her.

"Okay, Night night." she said and walks out the door.

"Want some milk?" he offers the Soldier, but the response was met with silence, Pierce shrugs and pours himself a glass of milk.

"The time table has turned. Our window is limited. Three targets, level 6." he tells him taking a seat in front of him. Setting the glass down.

"They already cost me Zola, I want confirm death in ten hours." he orders the soldier, his glare narrows and Renotta came back and into the kitchen.

"Mr. Pierce I. . ." she starts, seeing the soldier, the two look over at her. She look frighten in her spot, "I. . . forgot my phone." she tells him, feeling more frighten.

"Aww Renotta, I wish you would of knocked." Pierce said, grabbing a hold of the gun, aims and fires at her without a second thought. She screams as she felt two bullets hit her through the chest and she collapse to the ground.

Later that morning Sam went on his morning jog, he arrived home sometime later, pulled out his Sunny D container, went to drink from it but then heard knocking on his sliding glass door, he set his Sunny D down and walks over to his back door.

He then opens the blinds and saw Natasha, Steve and Sonya, covered in dirt and looking exhausted, he slides the door open and looks at the siblings, "Hey guys." he said to them.

"Sonya and I are really sorry about this, we need a place to lay low." Steve tells him.

"Everyone we know and trusted is trying to kill us." Sonya tells him, Sam looks at all three of them.

"Not everyone." he answers, stepping to the side and allowing them to enter his home, he shot a cautious look outside, then closes the door shut and shuts the blinds.

Sonya sat on the bed next to Natasha, her wet hair sat on her shoulder, wearing her clean black tank-top, pants and her boots. She looked down at the hard drive in her hand as her thumb subconsciously brush along it. She remembers Zola well, the experiments performed on her body and mind, his laughter as he enjoy hearing her scream for mercy and pain, it sickened her, how could someone take joy from torturing someone, but the results was her telepathy and Telekinesis powers, becoming a hero in America, but still after all this time, Zola still haunts her.

She was snap out of her thoughts as Natasha place her hand over hers that held the hard drive. Sonya sighs, "I'm alright." she tells her, Natasha place her towel on her shoulder and rub Sonya's shoulder with concern for a friend.

Sonya smiles at her and place her hand over her friend's, "Natasha I'm alright, I promise." she tells her, Natasha nods at her and pulls her hand away from her shoulder and hand. Steve finishes washing his hand and Natasha went back to drying her hair.

"You two alright?" Steve asks them, they look at him.

"Yeah." Natasha answers as Sonya nods, placing the drive into her satchel. Steve walks out of the bathroom and sat across from them.

"What's going on?" he asks them, Natasha sighs as Sonya pulls her towel from her shoulder and dries her hair "When I first join S.H.I.E.L.D I thought it was going straight, but I guess I just traded in the C.G.P for HYDRA." she starts. Sonya place her towel on her shoulder and looks at her friend. Natasha exhaled softly, "I thought I knew whose lies I was telling. . . but I guess I can't tell the difference anymore." she tells him, Sonya place her hand on her shoulder, comforting her.

"There's a chance you might be in the wrong business." Steve tells her, she looks at him and scoffs a little.

Steve then looks over at Sonya, she sighs and exhaled. "When we were in that room and Zola appeared on that monitor, everything that he did to me, what he took from me, it all came rushing back." she starts, Natasha looks at her, Sonya pulls back her hand, "I thought I was over all of it, but. . . . those horrors that we had to suffer through in the war, they never leave. They stay with you and remind you that, we're still here, and they died for what they thought was worth fighting for." she tells him, feeling a small weight left off her chest. Steve smiles at her and nods.

Natasha turns and looks at him, "I owe you, both of you." she said to him.

He just shook his head and Sonya shrugs her shoulder, "It's okay." he tell her, Sonya nods. "If it was the other way around and it was down to me to save your lives and you both be honest with me; would you trust me to do it?" she asks the Rogers, they lock eyes with each other, then looks back at Natasha.

"We would now. And I'm always honest." Steve tells her as Natasha looks at him in shock.

"It's true, he really is." Sonya vouch for him. Natasha smirks at the two, "Well you two seem chipper for some people just found out that they died for nothing." she states,

Sonya smirks and lays her head on her shoulder for a minute and then walks out the room as Steve leans back in his chair.

"Well I guess I just like to know who I'm fighting." he tells her.

Sonya walked into the kitchen where Sam cooking over the stove, "Wow, a man who can cook. I'm a fan" she said.

Sam looked at her, "Yeah, well when I asked you out for a coffee, I didn't mean instant coffee and breakfast in my apartment so soon.."

Sonya smirked, "Still going on about that, I never said yes."

Sam raised his eyebrows, "But you never said no. So how about it, you and me go out for coffee to get to know each other. Not a date."

Sonya thought about it for a few seconds, his mind was screaming that he had the hots for her "You know I am old enough to be your grandmother or great grandmother right?!"

Sam waved his arm, "Age is just a number. And you're still look young."

She laughed, "We shall see if you get that coffee date" she said as she walked out of the kitchen again, Sam hot on her tail.

Sonya walks in with, all three look at him, "I made breakfast, if you guys. . . eat that sort of thing." he said and walks back to kitchen, Steve looks at the two girls and sighs.

"So the questions is who at S.H.I.E.L.D could launch a domestic missile strike?" Natasha asks, Steve and Sonya sat at the table as Sam serves up breakfast for himself.

"Pierce." Steve answers, Sonya nods agreeing with him.

"Who happens to be sitting on top of the most secured building in the world." she adds.

"He's not working alone, Zola's algorithm was on the Lemurian star." Steve states.

Sonya and Natasha lock contact with each other as they realize. "So was Jasper Sitwell." Sonya said as the two look at him.

Steve looks between them, "So the real question is how did the two most wanted in Washington kidnap a S.H.I.E.L.D officer in broad daylight?" Steve asks.

Sam set his things down, grabbing a folder and walks to them. "The real answer, you don't." he said, setting the file down with the photo on top.

Steve leans forward and looks at the photo, Sonya leans forward as well. "What's this?" Steve asks him.

"Call it a resume." he said, the two stood up as Natasha took the photo.

"Is this Bacmula? The coyly condoled mission, that was you?" She asks him, he said nothing as she handed Steve the photo of Sam and his friend.

"You didn't say he was a Para rescue." she adds.

Sonya looks over Steve's shoulder, "Is this Riley?" Steve asks him.

Sam nods at him. "Heard they couldn't bring in the choppers, these are the R., what did you use a stealth shoot?" she states, he shook his head.

"No, these." he handed them the file, Sonya took it, opens the file and Steve looks over her shoulder and reads the contents inside.

"You said you were a pilot." Steve points out.

"Correction brother, he said he flies, but never flies what." Sonya tells him, Steve looks at her then back at Sam, he shrugs his shoulders.

"She's right, I never said what I fly." he states.

Steve just looks at the file and shook his head. "We can't ask you to do this Sam, you got out for a good reason." he tells him.

"Dude, Captain America and Agent Psych needs my help, there's no better reason to get back in." Sam reports to him.

Sonya looks at Steve, a smirk on her face as she looks at Steve, he looks at her smirks a little and looks at Sam, Sonya also looks at Sam, closing the file.

He then look at Sam, "Where can we get our hands on one of these?" Steve asks him.

"The last one is at Fort Mead, behind three guarded gates and twelve inch steel wall." he informs them.

Steve looks at the two girls, they shrug their shoulders. Then he looks back at Sam, "Shouldn't be a problem." he tells him, tossing the file of the Exo-7 Falcon back onto the table.

That afternoon, the Secretary walks out with Jasper and a few of their guards, "Listen I got to fly home tonight, cause uh. . . I got some contingently problem and I got to press the plash." the secretary tells them,

"Any contingently in particular, Mr. Secretary?" Jasper asks him.

"Uh no not really, 23, kind of hot. Real hot." he answers as they stop on the steps.

"You know wants to be a reporter I think, I don't know who listens at that point." he said,

"Doesn't sound like much of a problem to me." Jasper state, "Really, cause she's killing my back. But this isn't the place to talk about it, this is a nice pin." he said, looking at the S.H.I.E.L.D pin.

Jasper looks at the pin then back that the Secretary. "Thank you." Jasper said to him, then the secretary pulls him into a hug.

"Hail Hydra." the secretary whispers to him and they then pull out of the hug and the secretary took a step down, but crouched over a bit.

"Did you see that?" he asks Jasper.

"Yeah I saw that." Jasper answers him,

"Should I get it checked?" he ask Jasper.

"I think you should get it checked." Jasper answers him and the secretary walks away with a few of his guards, then Jasper phone ring, he reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out his cell and seeing that the contact that was calling was Alexander Pierce.

"I need a minute, bring the car around." he orders the two and they walk off, Jasper hits the answers button as he pulls the cell to his ear.

"Yes sir." he answers.

"Agent Sitwell how was lunch, I hear the crab cakes here are delicious." Sam asks him.

"Who is this?" Jasper asks him.

"The good-looking guy in the sun-glasses at your ten clock." Sam tells him.

Jasper looks around, "Your other ten clock." he said and Jasper looks over at tables, eyeing Sam, "There you go." Sam said to him, raising up his drink.

"What do you want?" Jasper asks him.

"You're going to go around the corner to your right, there is a grey car, two spaces down, you and I are going to take a ride." Sam instructs him.

"And why would I do that?" Jasper asks him.

"Because that tie looks really expensive and I'd hate to mess it up." Sam tells him as Jasper see a small red dot on his tie.

On top of a roof, Jasper was thrown on the ground as the door burst open, Steve, Sonya and Natasha walk onto the roof.

"Tell us about Zola's algorithm." Steve orders him, Jasper stood up and placed his glasses back on.

"Never heard of it." he said backing up.

"What were you doing on the Lemurian Star?" Steve asks again

"I was throwing up, I get sea sick." he said and was back against the edge of the roof, going to fall off, but Steve grips him by his coat and jerks him forward.

Jasper just smirks, Steve just glared at him.

"This little display to throw me off the roof, it's really not your style Rogers." he said.

Sonya exchange looks with Natasha. "You're right, it's not." Steve answer, letting go of his jacket, smoothing it out, "It's my sister's." he said taking a step to the side and Sonya kicks him off the roof and he screams as he fell.

"That felt good." she mumbles to herself.

"Oh wait, what about that girl from the county, Lur. . . Lura. . ." Natasha states.

"Lillian." Steve answers, Sonya smiles and looks at the two, crossing her arms.

"Lip piercing right?" Steve states.

"Yeah, she's cute." Natasha said.

"Yeah. . . no. not happening." Sonya tells the two.

"I agree I'm not ready for that." Steve adds in.

"Son, Still thinking of going on that coffee date with Sam" Natasha asked.

Sonya shook her head, "Haven't made up my mind yet."

Steve looked at his sister, "We will talk about that later"

Then they heard Jasper's screaming coming back up, Sam, wearing his wings, flew up and drops Jasper back onto the roof, then he himself sets and, his wings fold in he then turns and looks at him, the three walk over to Jasper.

"Zola's algorithm is a program for choosing Insight's targets." Jasper loosens his tongue.

"What targets?" Steve asks him.

"You, the D.V.A in Cigro, the Secretary of defence, the high school's Victoria eye in Ohio, Bruce Banner, Steven Strange. Anyone who's a threat to Hydra, now or in the future." he tells them.

"In the future, how could it know?" Steve asks him, Jasper just chuckles,

Sam took a step closer. "How could it not?" he questions him, then stood to his feet.

"The 21st century is a digital book, Zola taught Hydra how to read it." he tells them, Sonya gasp as she knew what he meant.

"Bank records, medical history, voting patterns, emails, phone calls, the S.A.T scores." she states, Jasper looks at her and smirks, "Zola's algorithm evaluates people's past to predict their future." he said.

"And what then?" Steve asks him,

Jasper looks down at the ground. "Oh my God, Pierce is going to kill me." he mumbles.

Sonya walks up to him and grips his throat making him look up at her, "I will do much worse, what happens than?" she threatens him, he gulps down his fears.

"And the Insight Helicarriers scratch people off the list, a few million at a time." he answers.

Sonya lets his throat go and backs away, she then looks at Steve, locking eyes contact with her.

They sat in a car as Sam drove along the highway, Sonya change out of her hoodie and pulls on her leather jacket, "Hydra doesn't like leaks." Jasper tells him.

"Yeah, why don't you try sticking a cork in it." Sam tells him.

"He did say it's launching in 16 hours, we're cutting it a little bit close here." Natasha tells them.

"I know, we'll use him to bypass the D.N.A scan and access the Helicarriers directly." Steve tells him. Sonya toss her hoodie in the back window.

"What, are you crazy?" Jasper questions him, Sonya pointed her gun at him, the two look over at him "That is a terrible, terrible idea." he said, then something lands on their hood, breaks the glass, grabbing a Jasper and throw in into the other lane, he gets run over.

Sonya looks and saw someone's leg and metal hand, the Winter Soldier was here, they other then roll up front, Natasha lands in Steve's arms and Sonya lands in Sam's lap, avoiding the bullets. Steve then pulls the emergency brake, the car come to a complete stop, the Winter Soldier on top flung forward, hitting the ground, but quickly removes, using his metal arm, slowing himself down. The four look at him and saw he removes his steel fingers from the concrete and stood up, a mask covers his eyes and face, and he stood there. "Natasha." Sonya calls out, Natasha points her gun at the winter soldier but they were soon ram in from behind by a black Jeep, jerking them forward a bit.

It makes Natasha drop her gun, the Jeep pushes them forward to the Winter Soldier as Sam tries to stop, slamming on the brakes, Sonya thrust her hand out, helping out as well, but the soldier jumps landing on top of the car, smashing the top down a bit, he reaches in, through the window, grabs the wheel and jerks it out of it's place.

"Shit!" Sam shouts, Sonya points her gun at the roof and fires at the soldier, he jumps over to the keep behind them and they pull back, and slam into the back against the car, making it spiral out of control.

Steve pulls on his shield on his arm and press it against the door, "Hang on." he tells the three, Sonya and Sam move over to him as the car goes to flip, the four push the door off it's hinges and they fly off it, the car flips and they land on the ground, the door slides along the road. The car really spiral as the door slide along the road, the jeep pulls out in front of them, Sam falls off and rolls along as the door slows down and came to a stop.

Steve, Natasha and Sonya pushed themselves off the door and ran back, the soldier then jumps off the hood of the Jeep, the hydra agent hands him a grenade rifle, he aims it and fire, Steve turns, pushing the two to the side and raise up his shield and the grenade hits his shield, sending him flying back and off the bridge.

"Steve!" Sonya shouts out, but Natasha pulls her back and they both hid behind a van as the hydra agents fire at them, Natasha fires at them, then the soldier fires at the two, they both jump into the other line, Natasha rolls dodging the oncoming car, Sonya uses her power to give her a boost and jumps over the car and lands next to Natasha. They then hid behind another car and the soldier fires at the car.

They both jumped over the edge, Natasha aim her hook gun, shooting it at the bridge above them and swung then lands on her feet, running, Sonya just landed on her feet, cat style and ran along with her.

The soldier and agents look over the ledge seeing if they could find the three targets, the two run under the bridge, seeing the shadows up top, so they readied their guns; the soldier and agents look around and eyed the turned over bus the soldier aims his gun to fire, but a bullet hits his goggles, he shot down, leaning his back to the wall he reaches up jerking off his goggles, and tosses them to the ground, then stood up and fires below them, Sonya leans out from behind the tow truck, firing at them.

Then the two took off into different directions as they ran out of ammo, the soldier fires after them, but stops as they ran, he stops and watches them, then said something in German, jumping over the ledge and lands on top of a car, smashing the top and walks off it.

Sonya stood on the side of the turned over car, she then thrust her hands forward and apart, creating a hole, she then saw Steve trying to collect himself. "Steve." she whispers to him, he turns and looks at her.

"Son." he whispers then the agents fire at them.

"Shit, come on!" she held out her hand, he took it and both ran out and hid behind his shield, he held Sonya close to him, protecting Sonya from the rifles and machine gun fire. She looks to her sides, seeing the two, she then thrust her hands out to her sides, making their bullets snap back at them, Steve turns his shield, making the bullets hit the other agent.

The other agents gets shot from above by Sam as he provided cover, Steve then push forward to the machine gun, then as they jump onto the car, Sonya stood up, steps onto Steve's shoulder, forcing herself up, she then thrust her hand out, sending the agent flying back she lands on top of the gun, crushing it under her feet. They then took cover behind the car, Steve looks up at the bridge, seeing Sam.

"Go I got this." he tells them. Steve nods at than pulls his sister along,

"We have to help Natasha." Sonya tells him as they ran.

"I know." he answers and they both kick into high gear.

A police car came to the scene, but was soon blown up, the soldier switches the grenade launcher to the rifle and he walks along the street, people exited their cars, running from the Winter Soldier, he walks slowly, then heard Natasha voice come from his right. He kneels down beside the mini van, pulls out a grenade and rolls it under the van, it rolls until it hit the sidewalk next to the blue car, but what he thought was Natasha was just her phone, playing a recording.

He then stood up, aiming his rifle at the car, waiting for her to pop up. But the explosion went off, leaving the soldier confused.

But when he turns, Natasha jumps at him, kicking his rifle out, twist, one leg wrap tightly around his shoulder, she pulls out her wire, pulling it at his neck, but he place his hand in the way, he stumbles back against the car he then reaches up and throws her off of him and she rolls and lands against the car, the soldier leans down and pulls his rifle into his hands, he aims his gun at her, but she pulls out a smaller disk and throws it at his arm, it sticks and send electrify throw his robotic arm, it fell limp to his side, as the bullet misses her. Natasha stood up and took off running.

He drops his rifle, reaches over and pulls off the disk, he stood there, clutches his metal fingers a little, then with one arm roll, he picks his gun back up and walks after her; "Get out of the way! Get out of the way!" Natasha warns nearby civilians as she ran for it, but as she pass a car, the window shatters and a bullet hits her right in the shoulder, she shutters, falling to her knees and then press her back to the car, pressing her hand to her wound.

She looks around for the soldier, but saw nothing, the soldier then appears as behind on when he jumps on top of a car and his gun aim at her, but then Steve and Sonya ran at him, the soldier looks at them from the corner of his eyes. Steve ran at them and the soldier throws at him, but meets his shield, and a high pitch ring rang out, Sonya covered her ears from the hurtful sound, she then looks up at them, the soldier moves the shield out of his way and kicks Steve back, making them both land on their back.

Sonya ran over to Steve and stood in front of him, the soldier fires at them, but Sonya held up her own shield, stopping the bullets and they just drop to the ground. The soldier rolls away off the car, the two took their chance and ran behind the car as the soldier fires at them, he run out of ammo and then went to switch with his other gun, Sonya slides over the car and kicks the gun out of his hand, then cartwheel to the side and Steve slide over the hood in front of him, the soldier then pulls out his hand gun firing at the two, but they both dodge his fires, Steve jams his shield at him, but it meets the soldier's metal fingers instead, he socks Steve in the side then in the face, twist flipping Steve over and pulling his shield off his arm and onto the his metal arm.

Steve threw a punch at him and his fist meets the shield the soldier threw a punch at him gut sending Steve flying onto his front, Sonya then kicks the soldier's feet out from under his, flips over him and takes back the shield. She then rolls and was in a low stance, she press the shield to her back, the soldier glares at her, she then twists as she stood and threw the shield at him, but the soldier dodges him and it sticks into a van door above Steve, the soldier pulls out knife as Sonya raise up her fists, Steve walks up behind him, but the soldier turns, going to slide at him but Steve blocks his every one; as Steve kicks him away and ran to his shield.

Sonya took a hold of his knife, and as she stood the soldier came up behind her, wrapping his arm around her neck and tries to pry the knife from her hand, but she pulls her leg up and hits in the face with her leg, making him stumble away, letting her go, she then turn and kicks him in the chest, sending back a bit more.

She then ran at him, jumping a little and jams her knee into his face, breaking the glass window, she then threw a punch at him, but he blocks it, she the dodges his punch, grips his arm and throws him over her shoulder and right onto the ground, but the soldier recovers and grips her neck tightly, she gasp, gripping his metal hand tightly, he jerks her close to his face then threw her at the car, her back hits the hood, slides across it and lands on the ground, she shook off the throw and saw the soldier above her, "Crap." she exclaims and rolls avoiding his punch, she pulls herself to her feet, she pulls up her arms and dodges the punches and he slams her against the van, she turns to him, seeing that he recovered the knife.

He tries to jam it into her face, but she stops the knife then dodges it, when the soldier uses his metal arm, but the knife cuts her cheek in the process, it digs into the metal van, and he pushes her along and throws her at the ground, Steve grips him at the waist from behind and send him flying back onto the ground, Sonya collected herself as Steve retrieves his shield, he then blocks all the hits and attacks, he then grips the soldier's arm, damaging it with his shield a bit, slams the shield into his face, twist a bit, ending up in front of the soldier then, grips him from behind and sent him flying forward. The soldier rolls onto his feet as his mask fell off, Steve stood up as Sonya walks up next to him, the soldier turns, Sonya gasp, taking a step back.

"Bucky?" Steve calls out.

"Who the hell is Bucky?" he asks, then points his gun at them, but then Sam appears, kicking at Bucky, sending him flying to the ground.

He then lands as Bucky stood up, Sonya eyes follow him, shock fills her eyes, he looks at her confused by her expression. He then aims the gun at them again but a grenade flies over Steve.

Bucky dodges the grenade as it hits the ground, Natasha leans against the car, holding the gun. Then more Hydra agents drive up to them, boxing them in. they exited the cars, aiming their guns at them. "Drop the shield Captain and get on the ground!" Rumlow orders him.

Steve did as he said as both him and Sonya slowly raise their hands. "Get on the ground!" one shouts, kicking at Sonya's leg, she slowly got to her knees and Rumlow stood behind her, cuffing her hands behind her back. One of the Agent's points their rifle at Steve, Rumlow looks up seeing the helicopter with the camera crew.

"Not here." he whispers to them, he backs off and saw Sonya's horror expression. "I'm sorry." he whispers to her, she looks over her shoulder a little.

"You knew he was alive, didn't you?" she asks him, he said nothing as he pulls her to her feet.


	4. Chapter 4

Back again peeps,

I am on maternity leave now, so have been busy updating.

Enjoy.

The four sat in the van, their hands and feet cuffed in thick cuffs, Natasha sat next to Steve as Sonya sat next to Sam. "It was him, he look right at us, like he didn't even know us." Steve tells her.

Sonya eyes just looks down at her cuffs. "How is that even possible, he fell from that train" Sam asks as Natasha looks over at Steve.

"Zola. Bucky's whole unit was captured in 43, Zola experimented him, whatever he did, helped Bucky survive the fall. They must of found him." Steve starts, "70 years. . . I believe he was dead, but to make it even worse. Hydra got their hands on him and twisted him, turning him into their lap dog and it's all my fault, I should've held on tight enough. . . I should've never let go. . ." Steve whispers.

"None of that is your fault Steve." Natasha tells her, "I wa shattered when I could finally help you two, but only to find out that you both were lost.

Sam bumped his shoulder with Sonya's to show her support. She gave him a quick, small smile.

Sonya chuckles dryly as a tear slides down her cheek as it mixes with her blood on her cheek, "Even when Steve and I had nothing . . . we had Bucky." she whispers, Steve looks at her, seeing the look of regret in her eyes. Sam looks over at Natasha's shoulder and saw blood slowly drain out of her system. "We need to get a doctor here, we don't put pressure on that wound she's going to bleed out here in the truck." Sam tells them, but one points a rod at him, making him shut up, but that rod, was suddenly flip, and jam into the agent next to them, then they pulled the rod back and kicks him in the face, making the agent drop unconscious, they pulled of their helmet off and revealed Maria Hills,

"Ah, that thing was squeezing my brains." she said then looks over at Sam. "Who's this?" she asks, looking at the Rogers twins.

The trucks pulled up inside an alley way, the agents exited their trucks and walks up to the one that held the three, the doors open, guns were aim and they saw one unconscious agent on the ground and a laser hole, the cuffs broken off and the three prisoner gone.

A van stops, Steve opens the back, Sonya steps out first and helps Natasha walk, Sam helps out as well, they walk up to a gate, Hills opens it and they all walk in.

A man runs to them, "G.S.W, she lost a least a pint." Hill tells him,

"Maybe two." Sam adds in.

"Let me take her." he tells them, "She'll want to see him first." Hill said, making the two women look at her.

"See who?" Natasha asks her, Hill leads them to a back room, opens the plastic curtains the three look in and saw no other than Nick Fury laying in a bed, with a transfusion hook up to him.

He opens his eye and looks at them, "It's about damn time." he mumbles, they all enter the room, some took seats, others stood, the doctor works on Natasha.

"Plasterate spinal column, crack sternum, shattered collarbone, perpetrated liver. One hell of a headache." he tells them.

"Don't forget your collapsed lung." the doctor tells him.

"Oh, lets not forget that, otherwise I'm good." he tells them.

"They cut you open, your heart stopped." Natasha throws out.

"Textura toxin D, slows the pulse to 1 beat a minute. Banner develop it for stress didn't work so great for him, but we found the use for it." Fury tells them.

"Why all the secrets, why not just tells us?" Steve questions him.

"Any attempt on the director's life had to look successful." Hill answers, "Can't cut key if you're already dead, beside I wasn't sure on who to trust." Fury said, Sonya glares at him as she cross her arms, Natasha flicks her eyes about.

Somewhere in D.C Hydra engineers work on the damages on Bucky's metal arm. He just sat there in the chair, a blank look on his face as images flash in his head. - _'Sargent Barnes.'_ _ **Zola called to him, then a memory of a train; he dangles from the damage bar, a man with dark blonde hair and blue eyes in a blue uniform, reaches out to him,**_ - _'Bucky!'_ _**he shouts,**_ _'Take my hand!'_ _**he shouts; he dangles from his hand,**_ he couldn't hold on any longer then slips from his hand, _'NOOOO! BUCKY!'_ _**he screams, reaching out for him. Then the image changes, two German men drag him, his arm, bloody and broken from the fall. It painted the white ground red, the image changes again, he was in a operating room, surgeons and scientists work on his broken arm, replacing it with a metal one.-**_

- _The prosper had already started.'_ _**Zola's voice echos in his mind; the scenery change, Bucky looks at both of his hand, one was skin as the other was metal, a surgeon looks at his arm and Bucky grips his neck tightly.**_ _'You are to be the new fist of Hydra.'_ _ **he said,**_ _'Put him on ice.'_ _ **Zola orders. Bucky was place in a chamber and place into cryo-sleep.-**_ the memories stop, he swung his arm, making the doctor fly, and all the guns were train on him, but he just sat there panting softly as he became more confused than ever.

Pierce walks to the room with Rumlow behind him, but one doctor walks in front of him, "Sir, he's – he's unstable. Erratic." he tries to warn him, but the door opens and Pierce walks into the room, Rumlow follows him.

He pulls of his glasses and signals the men to stand down. "Mission report." Pierce orders Bucky, as he place his glasses away, but Bucky just sat there, confused and emotionless.

"Mission report now." Pierce orders, Bucky did and said nothing. Pierce bends down in front of Bucky and backhands him across the face. Bucky scrunches his face a little in confusion and looks at Pierce.

"That man and woman on the bridge. . . who were they?" he asks as he remembered Steve and Sonya's reaction as they saw his face.

"You met them earlier this week on another assignment." Pierce tells him, Bucky stares into nothing.

"I knew them." he whispers, Rumlow clutches his fist. Pierce pulls out a chair and sat in front of Bucky.

"Your work has been a gift to mankind, you shape the century. And I need you to do it one more time. Society is at the tipping point between order and chaos and tomorrow morning we're going to give it a push." Pierce tells him and saw the distracted look in his eyes. "But if you don't do your part, I can't do mine." he reminds him.

Bucky just swallows, "And Hydra can't give the world the freedom it deserve." he adds, Bucky just looks at him.

"But I knew him. . . I knew her." he whispers. Pierce nods then stood up from the chair.

"Prep him." he orders the doctor.

"He's been out of cryo for too long." the doctor tells him.

"Then wipe him and start over." he orders, the doctors walked over to Bucky, preparing the machine, then they push him against the seat, he showed no resistance.

"Sir what about Sonya?" Rumlow asks him, at the mention of her name, another memory plays;

 _ **-Bucky and the woman Sat by the fire smiling, laughing and hugging.**_ _'Bucky. . . You're my best friend. I will be there for whatever you need.'_ _**she said, putting her head on his shoulder,**_ _'Sonya. . .'_ _ **he mumbles her name.-**_ the memory stops and he looks at the two,

"Her mind has grown too strong for us to control her, she'll have to be put down." Pierce tells him, the doctor readied a mouthpiece and Bucky opens his mouth.

"But sir. . ." Rumlow went to protest, but Pierce glares at him,

"Don't let your feelings for the girl get in your way on the objective." he tells him then Bucky was strapped into the chair as they mind wiping was about to begin.

"I just saying, she's too much of a valuable resource to be thrown away." Rumlow tells him.

"Don't give me that petty excuse, you fell in love with the girl, she's strong, she's loyal and devoted to her work, but she hates Hydra as much as her brother does and she's too powerful, we have to eliminate the threat before it's too late." he reminds him then Bucky started to bellow as they wipe any resurfacing memories, then Pierce walk out of the room, Rumlow took one last look at Bucky and left the room as well.

Everyone was gathered at the table and looks at the picture of Pierce, "This man declined the nobel peace prize." He said, "Peace wasn't an achievement, but was a responsibly." he said and drops the photo on the table, they all look at him,

"See it's stuff like this that gives me trust issue." he adds.

"We have to stop the launch." Natasha adds, Steve and Sonya look at her.

"I don't think the council is accepting my calls anymore." he tells them, then open a briefcase, with the data slide inside.

"What's that?" Sam asks.

"Once the Helicarriers reach 3,000 feet. . . they'll triangulate in the sight satellites, becoming fully weaponized." Hills tells them, showing them on a computer.

"We need to breach those carriers and replace those targeting blades with our own." Fury adds.

"One or two won't cut it. We need to link all three carriers for this to work, because if even one of those ships remain operational a whole lot of people are going to die." Hill tells them.

"We have to assume everyone aboard those is hydra, we have to get past them and insure these server blades and maybe, just maybe we could salvage whatever is left." Fury tells them.

"We're not salvaging anything Fury." Sonya snaps, everyone looks at her, "We're not just taking down the carriers, we're taking down S.H.I.E.L.D." she tells him.

"S.H.I.E.L.D had nothing to do with this." he tells her.

"You gave Steve and I this mission, this is how it ends. SHIELD's been compromised you said so yourself. Hydra grew right under your nose and nobody noticed." she tells him, showing her rage.

"Why do you think we're meeting in this cave, I noticed." he tells them.

"And how many paid the price before you did?" Steve asks him, Fury looks up at the Rogers, "Look I didn't know about Barnes." he tells him.

"Even if you had, would you still tell us or compromised that too?" Sonya questions him.

"S.H.I.E.L.D, HYDRA. It all goes." Steve adds to his sister argument.

"They're right." Hill agrees with them. Fury looks at her, then at Natasha, she leans back in her chair, he then looks up at Sam.

"Don't look at me, I do what they do, just slower." Sam said to him, Steve and Sonya looks back at Fury.

"Humph, well. . ." he pause then lean back in his seat, looking up at them. "Looks like you're giving the orders now Captain, Psych."

The two were outside on the damp bridge, Steve had his hands in his pockets as Sonya leans against the railing, both of them remember Bucky.

~Flashback~

 _"We looked for you after. My folks wanted to give you both a ride from the cemetery." Bucky tells them as they walk up the steps, they all wore formal clothing._

 _"I know, I'm sorry it's just we kinda wanted to be alone." smaller Steve tells him._

 _Sonya said nothing as they walk up the steps. "How was it?" Bucky asks him. "_

 _It's okay, she's next to dad." Steve tells him, Sonya walks next to the door, turns leaning up against the wall and her hands in her pockets._

 _"I was going to ask. . ." Bucky starts._

 _"I know what you're going to say Buck. . . it's just . . ." Steve starts as he searches for his key, Sonya push herself off the wall and feels her pockets as well._

 _"We could put the couch cushions on the floor like when we were kids. It'll be fun, all you gotta do is shine my shoes, maybe take out the trash and to the dishes." he said, Sonya smiles a little, Bucky walks over to a brick, kicks it a little and picks up the key, the siblings stop and Bucky handed the key to Steve._

 _"Come on." he asks the two._

 _"Thank you Bucky, the offer is really generous but. . ." Sonya looks over at Steve, fidgeting with her fingers, then back at him. "We can get by on our own." she said to him, he smiles at her._

 _"The thing is. . . you guys don't have to." he said then place a strong hand on Steve's shoulder and gently grip Sonya's hand, they both look at him, "I'm with you two til the end of the line." he tells them. They both smile at him._

~End of Flashback~

Sam walks up to them, "He's going to be there, you know." he said to them.

"I know." they answer.

"Whoever he used to be and the guy he is now, I don't think he's the kind you save, he's the kind you stop." Sam tells them, Sonya looks down at her hands.

"I don't know if we can do that." Steve tells him. "Well he might not give you a choice, he doesn't know you, either of you." Sam tells them.

Steve looks at him, "He will." Steve promises, Sonya stood up a little, "I went 70 years thinking Bucky was dead. I let him fall once, I won't let that happen again." He said getting their attention.

She then pushes herself away from the railing and looks at Sam, "Gear up, it's time." Steve said as he walked away.

Sam went to do the same but Sonya stopped him, "Hey, maybe after all this is over, we could go for that coffee." She said softly.

Sam smiled, "Yeah, definitely."

"It's a date" she said as she walked off, Sam soon after as they caught up with Steve.

"You're going to wear that?" Sam asks them.

"No, if you're going to fight a war, you're going to need a uniform." Steve tells him, Sonya smirked to herself.

~In the Captain America exhibit~

The security guard walks along the halls, but as he passes the dummies that wore the uniforms of the howling commandos unit, he looks up and shock covers his face.

"Oh man, I am so fired." he said, Captain America and Agent Psych's uniforms were gone.

Agent Hill and Sam walk into a small opening as Steve and Sonya emerge from the woods, both wearing their old uniforms the four then began to walk to S.H.I.E.L.D HQ.

"How was your flight?" Pierce asks the council.

"Lovey, the riot from the airport, less so." the council woman tells him.

"Sadly S.H.I.E.L.D can't control everything." Pierce states.

"Including Captain America and Agent Psych?." the councilman asked.

Pierce just looks at him for a moment then a man with pins walks up to them, "This fatuity is biometrically controlled and these will give you unrestricted access." he tells them and they clip the pins on; the four then broke into communications lab as Pierce was giving his speech to the council.

"Attention all S.H.I.E.L.D agents, then is Sonya Rogers, some of you call me Psych or Agent. You've heard a lot about Steve and I over the last few days, some of you were even ordered to hunt us down. But I think it's time you were told the truth. S.H.I.E.L.D is not what we thought is was, it's been taken over by HYRDA, Alexander Pierce is their leader, the S.T.R.I.K.E and Insight crew are Hydra as well, I don't know how many more, but I know they're in the building they could be standing right next to you and they almost have what they want, absolute control. They shot Nick Fury and it won't end there." Sonya took a breath.

"If you launch those Helicarriers today, HYDRA would be able to kill anyone that stands in their way, unless we stop them. I know we're asking a lot, but the price of freedom is high, always has been and it's a price I'm willing to pay, a price my brother is willing to pay. And if we're the only ones so be it it. But I'm willing to bet I'm not." she smirked to herself at the end.

Steve and Sam walks up to her, her brother pats her shoulder when she stood up and turned to them.

"Did you write that down first or was it off the top of your head?" Sam asks her, she smirks at him.

Steve, Sonya and Sam jogged outside as the Insight carriers began lift off.

"Hey Cap, how do I know the good guys from the bad?" Sam asks him.

"If they shot at you, they're bad." Steve tells him.

Sam folds out his wings and took off, Steve and Sonya jump down, and lands on the third carrier that was beginning take off, they start to get into the air as the HYDRA agents fire at them, Steve hung a right and rolls over a secured pack as Sonya left and ducks behind a Qin-jet, she pulls out her guns, loaded them, then leans out and fires at them.

Steve knocks one out, taking his grenade and rolls it to the three coming at him. Sonya pulls out from behind the Qin-jet and kept firing at them, they fire back at her, but she held up her telekinetic shield and killed the last of the squad, "Clear!" she shouts to Steve, he ran out of cover and jobs up to her. The shield drops, she pops out the empty clips, letting them drop to the ground and she reloaded. "Lets take them down." she tells him.

"God I love that you're my sister." Steve said and they both headed below.

"Hey Cap, I found those bad guys you were talking about." Sam tells them over the comm.

"You Okay?" Sonya asks as they duck behind cover. "I'm not dead yet." he tells them.

Pierce watches from the council room as the agents tried to stop Sonya and Steve. He then walks back to the council men, "Let me ask you a question." Pierce states, setting the phone down and took a hold of a glass of champagne.

"If Pakistan marched into Mumbai tomorrow and you knew that they were going to drag your daughters into a soccer stadium for execution. . ." he starts and hand him the glass, he took it. "And you could just stop it, with the flick of a switch, would you, or wouldn't you all?" he asks him.

"Not if it is your switch." the council man tells him, throwing the glass to the side, making it shatter. Pierce just sighs, the agent handed him a gun.

Pierce took it and aimed it at the man, but the council woman took action, she kicks his leg, moving him out of Peirce's aim, she then shot up in front of Pierce , grips his wrist, twisted it and sock her open palm into his face, she then twist, throwing her small disk at the one of the agent, electrifies him. She then twist under his arm, grabs the gun out of his hand and threw it at the agent's throat and finishes off all the agents.

Grabs the gun and points it at Pierce, she presses something at her temple, "I'm sorry. ." her voice and face de-camos, she pulls off the mask and with, it was none other than Natasha Romanoff. She just smirks at him, "Did I step on your moment?"

"Alright Cap, I'm in." Sam tells them over the comm, Sonya killed the last agent in her way.

"Almost there." she tells Hill, two more came in her way, but she shot her hand to the side, making them fly to the side. They both made it to the targeting blades, Sonya ran up to the panel, Steve stood behind her, she presses a few buttons and the tray opens up, she reaches into her pouch and pulls out her blade and places in the anti-targeting blade.

"Alright, Alpha is good to go." Sonya tells her over the comm and they both took off.

"Falcon, where are you now?" Hill asks over the comm.

"Had to take detour." Sam tells her, they headed up outside and Sonya could hear rocket fire go off, she sighs knowing Sam was having too much fun. "I'm in." he tells them "Bravo lock." he said and the two arrive outside the carrier, they then ran for the edge and Sam flew over them, Sonya thrust out her arm, making her flames materialize around her body and jumps off the edge as Sam grabs a hold of Steve's hand as he fell and they flew over to the last carrier. "You know, you're a lot heavier than you look." Sam tells him as Sonya lands.

"I had a big breakfast." Steve said, She then giggles, then suddenly, Steve was shoved to the side to the side and off the edge, "Steve!" Sonya shouts and the two they both jump off, but Sam was jerked back. "Sam!" she cries out, went to go back.

"Don't worry about me, get Steve, finish the mission!" Sam shouts at her then fires at Bucky, she growls at herself and shot after Steve, gripping his arm and stopping his fall.

"Man just how big of a breakfast did you have?" Sonya to hold him up. "Not now Son. . . get us inside." Steve tells her, she nods at him and lands on the back rear.

"Cap, Sonya come in are you okay?" Sam asks over the comms.

Sonya pants, Steve looks at her, but she nods at him and stood straight. "Yeah, I'm here and we're alright, we're still on the Helicarrier where are you." Steve said.

"I'm grounded, the suit's down, sorry guys." he tells them.

"Don't worry, we got this." Steve said and they ran into the carrier, Bucky looks down at them and headed inside as well.

They ran into the bottom bowl of the carrier, but stops as Bucky stood in there way, a blank expression covered his face. "People are going to die, Buck, we can't let that happen." Steve tries to talk to him.

Bucky just stares at them. "Please. . . don't make us do this." Sonya begs him, Bucky them glares at them.

Steve sighs heavily then threw his shield at him, Bucky blocks it and the shield bounces back at him, Sonya jumps over the two and ran to the blade tray, but was then shot in the leg. Bucky kicks Steve back and reaches back, grabbing her hair and yanking her away. She bellows and and thrown against Steve. And a bullet skit across her arm, cutting the skin on her and the fabric of her uniform. Steve then turned them around, making Sonya land on the rail ground and blocks Bucky's oncoming punch with his shield.

But then was fired in his side, he flinches a little, but then slam his shield into Bucky's face, sending him flying back right below the panels. Sonya moans a little as she reaches in and pulls out the targeting blade. But Steve sighs as Bucky pulled out his knife, then blocks all of Bucky's attacks. He then was kick to the ground, but Sonya uses her free hand and throws him back giving Steve the time to collect himself.

Sonya ran to the panel and opens the rack, Bucky ran at her, she turns grips the metal wall, pulls her leg to her chest, this cuts Bucky short as the soul of her boot, meets his chest and she shot him flying back. She then pulls out one blade, going to place her's in but Steve pulls her into his arm and blocks Bucky's metal push. Sonya then thrust her arm forward, sending him back a little. Steve swung his shield at him, then the two back against the railing Steve pushes Bucky back. Soon after, Bucky rams into the two, making all three go over.

The shield fell from Steve's hand, and as they hit the ground, the blade slips from Sonya's hand, slides down behind Bucky. They all stood up and Steve and Bucky fought hand to hand. Sonya slides down and next to the blade, Steve slides next to her as she stood, then she turns and saw Bucky right in front of her, he throw a punch. But Sonya grips his metal wrist, twisted it then slams her knee into his gut, then she slams her forehead against his, making herself drop the blade, he staggers a bit. She then twirls and slams her foot into his chest, sending him flying off the land. Steve pulls himself up and they both jump down.

Every little dirty secret, that both Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D hid over the years was now dumped onto the internet, Pierce grips his phone and actives the pins on the council men, killing them, Natasha and Nick points their guns at him, "If you don't want a 2 inch hole through your sternum, I'd put that gun down." he threatens her.

Natasha swallows her fear "I had it armed the moment you pinned it on." he adds, Nick looks at her and they both lowered their guns.

Steve and Sonya ran to the blade, but then Steve's shield was thrown at him, sending him flying back, Sonya twisted down and saw Bucky aim his gun at Steve, she ran over to her brother and he kicks up his shield, blocking the in coming bullets, they two stood up as their best friend ran at them, Steve threw his shield, but Bucky threw it off course with his metal arm. Bucky then pulls out his knife, swing at Steve, but he stops the knife, but Bucky uses his metal arm and jams it into his shoulder, Steve bellows, Sonya then jumps onto Bucky's back, placing his head into a headlock. Steve head butted him too and was thrown to the side.

He then reaches up, griping her by her hair and throws her off his back and next to Steve, he then reaches for the bladed and the two jump onto him, trying to make him let go. "Let go. Let it go Bucky!" Sonya said, he ignored her. She then pushes Steve away, twist in front of him, wrapping her legs around his waist, locking her ankles and forces him down. "Bucky, don't do this!" she tries to get through to him, but her pleas fall on deaf ears, "I'm sorry." she tells him then headbutted him, she then looks over at the hand gripping the blade.

Sonya uses her telekinesis, forcing his hand to open.

The blade drops from his hand and Sonya makes it fly into Steve's hand. "Go! Finish it, I got him!" She orders him, Steve nods and headed up.

She turns to Bucky and felt his metal hand clutch her throat tightly, she gags as she was raised into the air. Sonya grips his wrist tightly, looking at him. "I know. . . this isn't. . . you." she chokes out. His grip tightens, "I. . . forgive. . . you. . ." she whimpers and her arms fall to her sides as she went limp. Bucky drops her to the glass floor and raise his gun at Steve, a shot rang out hitting Steve in the leg, but he pursuit his mission, another shot, hitting him in the arm, but he kept to his goal, another shot and Steve collapse to the ground.

Sonya flutters her eyes, seeing Bucky lower his smoking gun, she gently and slowly up her hand, helping Steve to his feet and install the blade.

The 70,000 targets that were going to die, was now reduced to three. She chuckles, "Charlie locked." the Rogers sibling both said.

"Alright Cap, Agent get out of there." Hill tells them as he makes the carriers target themselves.

"Fire at will." Sonya orders her.

"But Sonya." Hill went to argue.

"Just do it! Do it now!" Sonya shouts as she force herself up, Bucky turns and looks at her. She leans against the push up for balance, spitting out her blood to the side and looks at Bucky. He aims his gun at her.

As the barrel was pointed at her head, a image of her flashes in his mind, she was wearing baggy clothes and a hat that hid her long dark down hair. 'What are you going to do soldier-boy, take me in?' she states, clapping her wrists together.

He chuckles, making her giggle. His hand begins to shake as he tries to focus. "James. . ." she cries out, he took a step back.

- _Why can't I shoot her, why do I feel so damn guilty every time I hurt this woman?! Why!?_ \- he screams in his mind, then everything shook, throwing Bucky off balance, making him stumble, then he screams as a big metal construction falls on top of him.

"James!" Sonya cries out, but caring that the broken glass that threw, cutting her along her body. Steve looks down and saw Bucky was trap.

He jumps down and Sonya crawled to the other side of him, the carrier shook again, making them both stumble. Then they collected themselves and stood their ground.

"On three." Steve tells her, she nods and they both grip the big bar. "One. . . two. . . three!" he said and they both lifted it up, then Bucky crawls out from under it. They then drop it and pants as Bucky stood up, Sonya stumbles over next to Steve, and they both look at him.

"You've known us." Steve tells him as he held up his shield.

"No I don't!" Bucky shouts, swinging his metal arm at him, making the two stumble and fall to the ground, Bucky stumbles as well. Then Steve tells Sonya to her feet.

"Bucky you've known us you're whole live." Steve tells him and got smacked right across the face with the metal hand; the carrier than descents down "You're name is James Buchanan Barnes." Sonya tells him.

"Shut up!" he shouts, hitting her square in the chest making her and Steve stumble back and hit the ground, Sonya coughs up blood, but they force themselves back to their feet, Steve pulls off his helmet and they look at him exhausted.

"We're not going to fight you." Steve loosens his grip and his shield fell. "You're our friend." he tells him. Bucky lunches at him, making the two hit the ground hard and he held Steve in place.

"You're my mission." he said to Steve and socks him repeatedly in the face, "You're. . . my. . . Mission!" he shouts and pants, raising his fist again. Sonya reaches out and place her hand on top of him, he stiffens and looks down at her hand.

"Then finish it." Steve tells him, Bucky looks down at Steve. "Cause Sonya and I are with ya to the end of the line." he said. Bucky looks at him shock and confused at his words, then more construction fall, breaking the ground below them.

Sonya grips Steve's wrist as Bucky grips her hand. She looks up at him, eyes very weak and skin pale as snow. "Bucky. . ." she calls out, he looks down at her. he gasped, "No, no, no, no!" he shouts, feeling her slip through his hands. "NOOO!" he shouts, reaching her her as she and Steve fell from his grasp.

Sonya smiles a little, feeling the her tears escape from her eyes and they both plummeted into the river, sinking to the bottom, the last thing she saw was a metal hand reaching out to them.

Bucky walks out of the river, dragging Steve behind him and Sonya swung over his shoulder, he then walks onto the bank and drops Steve onto the ground, then slowly pulled Sonya off his shoulder and gently place her onto the ground, cradling her in his arm, she exhaled softly, fluttering her eyes open a little, looking up at him. "I'm sorry. . . I let you fall. . . I'm so sorry." she whimpers them lost conciseness, going limp into his arms. Bucky panic a little then place his ear to her chest.

There was a heart beat in a perfect rhythm, he exhaled with relief, then laid her on the ground, brushing a few strains of her wet hair out of her hair and then stood up, more confused on who the two were to him and who he was, he look one last look and left the two on the bank for someone to find them.

Weeks after being let out of the hospital, Sonya stood in front of Nick Fury's grave, along with Steve and Sam.

Fury walks up to the three. "So you experience this sort of thing before?" Nick asks the siblings, Sonya shrugs and looks back at the grave.

"You get use to it." Steve tells him.

"We've been data mining Hydra's files. Looks like a lot of rats didn't go down with the ship." Fury tells them. Steve and Sonya look at him, "I'm heading to Europe tonight, wanted to ask if you can come." he tells them.

"There's something I got to do first." Steve tells him, Fury looks at Sonya. "My place is next to my brother and besides, like he said. I got something to do first." She tells him, he nods. Knowing he can't persuade them.

"How about you Wilson, I could use someone with your skill set." Fury asks him.

"I'm more of a soldier than a spy." Sam tells him.

Fury nods "Alright then." Fury states, then held out his hand, shaking their. "If anybody ask where I am, tell them they can find me. . . right here." Fury said to them, pointing at his grave and walks off.

"You should be honored, that's about the closest he gets to saying that you." Natasha tells them.

Steve and Sonya walk up to her, "Not going with him?" Steve asks her.

"No. . ." Natasha answers.

"Not staying here." Sonya states.

"Nah. I blew all my covers, I got to go figure out a new one." she tells them.

"That could take a while." Steve tells her.

"I'm counting on it." she smirks at them, "That thing you ask for, called in a few favors from Keave." she said to them, Steve took the file and looks down at it, Sonya understood the words. "The Winter Soldier Project." it reads.

"Will you do me a favor, call that nurse." Natasha asks him.

"She's not a nurse." Steve reminds her.

"And you're not a S.H.E.I.L.D agent." Natasha reminds him.

"What was her name again?" Steve asks her.

"Sharon, she's nice." she tells him, they look at each other, then she gave him a kiss on the cheek and pulled Sonya into a hug. She then pulls away and started to leave.

"Be careful Steve. . . you might not want to pull on that thread." she warns them and left. Steve and Sonya looks down at the file.

He opens it and there was a huge picture of Bucky in cryo-sleep and a smaller picture of him, before the winter soldier. "You're going after him." Sam states as he walks up to them.

"You don't have to come with us." Steve tells him, "I know." Sam tells him then looks at the two. "When do we start?"

In Washington DC, in the Captain America and Agent Psych section, a man wearing a hat, a thick jacket with dark jeans and romeos, his hair all tuck in and hands stuffed into his jacket pockets. He then walks up to the Bucky Barnes broad and looks up at the picture of him, the man in the cap was none other than Bucky Barnes himself. He then looks at the panel, with the video playing.

There he, Sonya and Steve stood. Bucky had his arm over her shoulder, holding her close and Steve next to them, both she and Bucky laugh as Steve just chuckles a little bit, Bucky then looks down at Sonya and places a big kiss on her cheek and Steve just shook his head at them; a tear wells up in his eye, he reaches up with his human hand and brushes his hand away. Then back at Sonya from the video. - _Sonya. . . Rogers. . ._ -


	5. Chapter 5

6 months has pass since the whole Hydra incident in Washington D.C, the avengers were now cleaning up the remaining Hydra factories.

Somewhere outside of Sokovia, a Hydra base was under attack from S.H.E.I.L.D, a jeep drove by Natasha and Clint was firing arrows. Another jeep drove next to them as Hydra men were firing at them, Tony blast at them as Thor got rid of the other jeep and he then jumped up onto the tower and dispatch the men on top and the flying threw him to the ground and then he jumps down holding a big piece of metal on his hands and was whacking at the men, then Steve drove by hitting the men in his path.

Sonya flew over him thrusting up her hands and slams the men down on the ground, she then dodges a jeep that Thor hit with his hammer and Hulk catches it and he threw it and roars, then Natasha drove up next to the four.

Then the two jump out, Steve jumps over the fence, Thor readied his hammer as Sonya powers up and Hulk pulls back his fist and they attack.

Tony flew up and headed for the base, by a force field knocks Tony back, "Shit!" Tony exclaims as he collected himself.

"Language!" Steve corrects him, making Sonya raise an eyebrow, "J.A.R.V.I.S, what's the view from upstairs?" Steve asks.

"The central building is protected by some kind of energy field. Strucker's technology is well beyond any Hydra base we've taken." J.A.R.V.I.S informs them.

Thor jumps down and fought a few Hydra men, "Loki's scepter must be here, Strucker couldn't mount his defense without it. At long last." Thor states as he held out his hand and Mojnor flew into his hand.

Natasha dispatch a few of the men, "At long last is lasting a little long." she tells him and gets the last one; Clint ducks behind a tree, then pulls out an arrow and then pulls out and fries at tank and pulls back as it blew up, "Yeah, we lost the element of surprise." he states.

Tony dispatched the guards around the base, "Wait a sec, no one else is going to deal with the fact the Cap said language?" Tony asks them.

"Thank you." Sonya states and fires at the men behind Tony.

"I know." Steve states, seeing a jeep heading right for him and, he then pulls his feet onto the seat of his bike, slams on the brakes, he flips, landing on his feet and throws the bike at the jeep and destroys it, "It just slip out." he tells them, Sonya shook her head.

Then saw more men come out, and the cannons were ready, "Sir, the city is taking fire." J.A.R.V.I.S informs Tony.

"Well you know that Strucker isn't worry about civilian casualties." Tony states.

"I got this." Sonya informs him, then flew out to people, turn her back to the people, held her arms out and created a shield. "How long can you hold?" Tony asks her.

"3 hours, better make every second count Tony." she tells him.

"You got it, Aunt." he tells her, she rolls her eyes at him. But then she saw the Iron league, Sonya sighs and lowers her arms, but the shield stay up,

"Please, Miss Rogers, we have this situation under control." one tells her, she nods at him and flew back to the battle.

Sonya lands on the ground and her flames dissolved and she started to run, but then felt a swoosh next to her, she stops and stood her ground, looking around. She then sensed them behind her and then jumps over to the side as the things swooshes past where she once stood, she rolls and was kneeling down on one knee, snow was in her dark blonde hair and eyelashes. She cautiously looks around and slowly stood on her feet.

She then heard Clint grunt follow with a thud, she turns to his direction and takes off, seeing a bunker firing at her, she dodges them and falls to her knees, "Clint!" she exclaims, then Natasha ran over to them.

"We have a new enhancement on the field." Steve warns them.

"Clint's been hit." Natasha informs him as she looks at Clint's wound.

Sonya looks over at the Bunker as the men continue to fire at them, "Can someone please take care of that bunker?" she asks and then the Hulk appears and destroy it. "Thank you." she tells him and Natasha works on stopping the bleeding.

"Sonya, go. I got this." Natasha tells her, Sonya nods and took off. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her, then the swoosh passes her again, she glares and just as it was going to knock her off her feet, Sonya, twirls and throws her arm out and knocking the fast man off his feet and she continue on, until she dips her head back as Steve's shield flew over her, she twist and regain herself as Steve's shield came back to him.

"Sonya." Steve states and jogs over to her, "Steve." she said back as they both were back to back.

"Tony, we really need to get into the base." Steve states as he throws his shield and Sonya uses her powers to incapacitate the men.

"I'm closing in." Tony informs them as he fires at the men, "Think you can help me, Son?" Tony asks Sonya.

Sonya fires at the men, "Kinda have my hands full right now, I think you can handle it." she says as she kicks the man in the belly, then jumps at him, sitting on his shoulders, twist and they both fell to the ground. Then flipping herself onto her feet and thrust her hand out, making the men fly back and hit the trees. "And three; don't ever call me that, it's Psych or Aunt Son to you." she finishes, stood up and reloads her guns.

"You got it." he tells her and continues on his own, "J.A.R.V.I.S, am I… closing in?" Tony asks as he fires at the men. "Do you see a power source for that shield?" Tony asks again.

"There is an unknown power source under the building." J.A.R.V.I.S informs him.

"Good, I want to poke at it with something." Tony states and then fires again and fires at the source taking out the shield. "The drawbridge down, people." Tony informs them.

Steve flexes his hand and his shield jumps right back onto his arm, as Sonya powers down. They both look over and saw Thor slam his hammer onto the ground, making the men fall off their feet, he then stood up and the sibling ran over to him, "The enhanced?" Thor asks them.

"He's a blur, with the flares we face, I've never seen anything like it. In fact, I still haven't." Steve informs him.

"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys." Natasha states and Sonya places her hand on her earpiece. "We're going to need evac." she adds and Sonya sighs and pulls her hand away.

The three then look over seeing a tank come their way. "I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner the better. You, Stark and Lady Sonya secure the scepter." Thor tells them.

"Copy that." Steve states and they saw men running at them.

"Aw how nice, they're lining up for us." Sonya states as lightning crackles around Thor's hammer.

"Well, they're excited." Steve states, ready his shield and Thor slams his hammer down, making the strong sound, knocking the men off their feet and destroying the tank.

"Find the scepter." Thor tells them and flew off.

"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony states and Steve sighs and hung his head.

"That's not going away anytime soon." he mumbles and Sonya pats his shoulder.

"Nope, never." she answers and he narrows his eyes at her. She just smirks, "Come one, let's move." she states and they both take off for the base.

Tony bust through the window and the men fire at him, their bullets did little damage, "Guys, stop. We can talk this through." he tells them, but then fire at them and they all fall down to the ground, groaning in pain.

"Nice talk." Tony tells them.

"No it wasn't." one man moans. Tony then finds the doctor and stops him from deleting all the files.

The suit then opens up and Tony steps out and the suit closes up.

"Sentinel mode." he orders and the suit did just so. "Okay J.A.R.V.I.S, you know. I want it all. Make sure you copy to HQ." he states, plugging J.A.R.V.I.S in and started to type away.

More agents of S.H.I.E.L.D came and surrounded the men, "We're lock down out here." Natasha informs Steve; the older sibling pulls off his helmet.

"Then get to Banner, time for a lullaby." Steve tells her and the two continued on, but Sonya stops and looks out at the trees, feeling as if someone was watching her.

Steve stops and looks at her, "Sonya, are you alright?" he asks, she nods not taking her eyes away from the tree lines.

"Yeah, I'm fine… just thought I saw something. Guess it was nothing." she tells him.

Tony looks around the room as the suit was still in alert, "I know you're hiding more than files." Tony mumbles. "Hey, J, give me an I.R scan of the room real quick." Tony asks, J.A.R.V.I.S did so.

"The wall to your left. I am reading steel reinforcement and an air current." J.A.R.V.I.S informs him.

Tony looks over at the wall, "Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door…" Tony mumbles to himself and then pushes at the wall.

It pulls back and opens a hidden passageway, "Yay!" Tony cheers to himself, he steps into and walks down the steps.

Strucker makes a run for it but ran into the Rogers sibling, "Eren Strucker. Hydra number one thug." Sonya states as she starts to circle him.

"Technically, I'm a thug for S.H.I.E.L.D." he tells her.

"Well then technically you're unemployed, where's Loki's Scepter?" Steve orders.

"Don't worry, I know when I'm beat." he tells them, Sonya crosses her arms as Strucker looks over at Wanda that hid in the shadows, Sonya notices her presence as well.

"You mention how I cooperated…" he adds, trying to distract the two.

"I'll put it right under illegal human experimentation." Steve states as Sonya uncrossed her arms. Strucker looks at both of them. "How many are there?" Steve questions, then Sonya quickly squats down as Wanda shot out her hand and sent Steve flying back and down the stairs.

Sonya looks over at him, then back at Wanda as she quickly moves back and the doors shut in front of her. Steve pulls himself back up the stairs as Sonya stood up, "We have a second enhanced. Female, do not engage." Sonya warns the others and then looks over at Strucker.

"You have to be faster than-" he starts, but Sonya twist, sending the soul of her boot right into his face, he stumbles back, hits the wall and falls to the ground. Sonya pulls her leg back down and looks at him, then places her foot on his shoulder and gently press his shoulder blade into the wall.

"Trust me, I'm a lot faster than I look." she informs him; the mysterious man was watching them as Sonya knocks Strucker to the ground, he smirked to himself and left the area.

Tony walks into the experiment room, "Guys, Sonya and I got Strucker." Steve informs the team.

"Yeah, I got… something bigger." Tony informs him as she was looking up at a dead alien from New York.

"Bigger… bigger how?" Sonya asks.

"You remember those big snake like aliens Loki brought with him through the portal?" Tony asks her.

"You mean the Leviathans?" Sonya asks him.

"Yeah… I found one." he tells her, she sigh.

Tony then looks over at the table and saw that one of his league robots were laying on an operating table, rendered into pieces, he then looks around and saw operating machines, but something shiny catches his attention, he peeks over and saw the scepter, then walks up to it.

"Thor, I got eyes on the prize." Tony informs the thunder god, but suddenly Wanda was right behind him, then works her magic on his mind and vanishes.

Tony shook his head and suddenly heard a sound behind him and slowly turns, seeing the Leviathan come back to life. It pulls off the wires and flew off, Tony turns back around and saw that he was in space and his team was laying dead on the uneven rocks. He was in horror as he looks at them. Hulk struggle with the spikes in his back but then gave up, Natasha was laying on her back, staring at him with dead eyes, Clint was sitting his hand gripping his bow and arrow as he head hung, Thor gripping his hammer as he was staring up at space with his dead eyes, and his other hand that hung from the edge.

Steve's shield broken in half as Steve as in front of the ledge, next to his right, Sonya was laying in her back, her head laying on Steve's shoulder.

Tony moves over, next down next to Sonya, gently turns her head from Steve's shoulder and press his two fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse.

But then suddenly, Sonya gasp awake, gripping Tony's wrist, making him flinch, she then looks up at him. "Why… why did you leave us… to die?" she questions him, he looks at her in horror. "You… could of… save us." she struggles to speak then went limp, and her hand loosened and falls away from Tony's wrist.

She stares up at the space sky, blood ooze out from the corner of her mouth and her blue eyes lost their color, _"You could of done more."_ Sonya's voice echos in his head, Tony looks away from her and gasp in horror, the Chitauri won and the invaded Earth.

Tony then shot up, finding himself back in the room, Wanda looks at him from the shadows, seeing what Tony saw, he then looks back, seeing the dead Leviathan and then looks back at Loki's Scepter. Petro suddenly appeared and went to stop Tony, but Wanda places her hand on his chest stopping him. Then Tony held out his hand and walks around the scepter, "Are we just going to let them take it?" Pietro asks her, but Wanda smiles as the Iron hand flew onto Tony's and he takes a hold of the scepter.

The Qin-jet flew back to America, Banner was listening to classical music, Steve was working on helping take care of Barton as Natasha walks over to them, Sonya was sitting down next to him as Natasha approach them, Sonya informs her that she got it as Thor walks over and looks at the scepter that Loki once held.

Natasha then walks over, kneels down in front of Banner and he pulls off his headphones as she pauses the music, "Hey, that lullaby work better than ever." she tells him.

He nods, "I just wasn't expecting the code green." he tells her, Sonya moves away from Barton as he assures her that he was going to be okay by himself.

"If you hadn't been there hadn't there, there would be double the casualties, one of my best friends would have been a treasured memory." she adds.

Sonya shook her head as she walks over next to Steve and Thor, "You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear, isn't exactly what I want to hear." he tells her, Sonya looks down at stone that sat on top of the scepter and notices something inside it.

"How long before you trust me?" she asks him and he looks at her.

"It's not you that I don't trust." he tells her and she smirks.

"Thor, report on the Hulk." Natasha asks the thunder god. The three look over at her, "The gates of Hell are filled with his screams of his victims." Thor states.

Natasha looks at him as if he was an idiot as Banner buries his face into his hands, Sonya sighs and face palms. "But not the screams of the dead of course. No, no, no." he states as Steve just smirks and looks up at the ceiling. "Wounded screams, whimpering great deal of complaining and tales of strange deltoids and yeah…" Thor rambles and stops.

Sonya looks at him and shook her head. "Hey Banner, Doc Cho is on her way in from Seoul, is it okay for her to set up in your lab?" Tony informs him.

Banner turns to him, "Uh… yeah, she knows her way around." he answers.

"Thanks." Tony said to him, "Tell her to prep everything, Barton is going to need the full treatment." Tony said to J.A.R.V.I.S.

"Very good, Sir." J.A.R.V.I.S said to him.

Sonya looks down at the scepter, "J.A.R.V.I.S, take the wheel." Tony also said as his seat pulled back, "Yes dear. The approach vector is lock." he answers and the chair turns and Tony stood up, then walks over to the Roger siblings and Thor. "It feels good, yeah. You've been after this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D collapsed." Tony said to the thunder God.

"Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties." Tony adds and Thor smiles at him.

"No, but this brings it to a close." Thor tells him as Sonya scratches her temple.

"As soon as we find out what else it's being use for and I don't mean weapons." Steve tells them.

"Since when has Strucker been capable of human enhancement?" Sonya questions as she crosses her arms.

"Banner and I will give it once over before you take it back to Asgard. Just a few days until the farewell party, you're staying, right?" Tony asks him.

Thor looks at him and nods, "Yes, yes, of course. The victory should be honored with revels." Thor tells them.

"Yeah, doesn't feel like revels." Tony mumbles as he leans against the frame as Sonya places her hands on her hips, "Captain?" Tony turns to Steve.

"Hopefully, this puts an end to the Chitauri and Hydra. So yes, revels." Steve answers him.

The Q-jet flew over the city of New York in Manhattan, then it arrives at The Avengers Tower, the jet descends, turns and then sets down on the landing platform. Agent Hill and Doc Cho waited for them as they arrive, the jet was locked in and then pulled back.

Medics and Natasha ran out and Cho throw out instruction in her language as they all walk off, then Agent Hill walks into the jet and Thor walks off, holding the scepter, "The lab's all set up boss." she calls out.

Then Tony turns to her, "Actually, he's the boss, I just pay for everything and design everything and make everyone look cooler." Tony throws at Hill and Sonya rolls her eyes as Tony got out of the chair, then Steve stood up and walks over to Hill.

"What's the word Strucker?" Steve asks her as he stood up, walking over to her, Sonya followed.

"Nato's got him." Hill answers.

"The two enhanced?" Sonya asks.

"Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins." she answers handing the pad to Sonya and she played the video, seeing them at a protesting group. "Orphaned at ten when a shell collapse their building." Hill informs them, sliding the video to the side to the photo of their ruin apartment." she adds as the three walk out of the jet. "Sokovia has had a rough history. It's no where special but it's on the way to everywhere special." she said walking into the building.

"Their abilities?" Steve asks.

"He as enhanced metabolism and homeostasis. She neuroelectric phasing, telekinesis mental manipulation." Hill answers, as the were at the elevator.

Steve turns and look at her, "He's fast and she's weird like me" Sonya translates for her.

Steve nods and then took the pad from her then gave it to hill, "Well, they're going to show up again." Steve tells her as the elevator dings.

"Agreed, also says that they volunteer for Strucker's experiments." she said and the two step inside.

"Right, what kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?" Steve asks her as he press a button, Sonya shot him a glare.

"We're not at war, Captain." Hill informs him.

"They are." Steve answers as the door closes.

Sonya goes to the level and walk into the lab, seeing the doctors, Tony and Natasha. They look over at her, "Hey Clint, how are you holding up?" she asks him, placing her hand on his arm.

"You know me, I'm too stubborn to die." he tells her, she giggles at him and Tony handed her a shake, she takes it and sips it.

"This is the next thing Tony, your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust." Cho tells him, Sonya chokes a little and Natasha pats her back, knowing that she was laughing.

"Well that is the plan." Tony tells her, Eyeing Sonya, she held up her hand, telling him that she was done. "And Helen I expect you to see you at the party, Saturday." he adds in.

"Unlike you, I don't have a lot of time for parties." she tells him.

Natasha looks at her. - _Give her a minute._ \- Sonya tells her and Natasha looks back at her.

"Will Thor be there?" she asks, - _Oh, there it is!_ \- she mumbles to herself and sips her shake.

Natasha shoves her a little, "Oh Sonya, is your boyfriend coming?." Tony tells her, she narrows her eyes at him.

Sonya shakes her head, "I am yet to speak to him." she answers him, he looks at her.

"You haven't called him straight away after a mission, has something changed?" he asks, she just shook her head at him, "Go annoy someone else Tony." she tells him, Natasha and Clint stop themselves from laughing. "Bye. Banner, with me." Tony said and the two walk off.

Saturday came and everyone had shown up for the party, Sonya was wearing a red cocktail sleeveless dress, her hair was curled and let down, and she wore red heels with straps around her ankles. She plays against Steve as they were playing Pool and she was winning.

"Oh, hate to tell you Steve… but you're sister is kicking your ass." Sam tells him as he walks up to the pool table.

"Language Sam, Steve doesn't like those words.." Sonya teases, Steve looks at her, she smiles at him and walks around the table to where Sam is.

"Don't you dare start, Son, I swear…" he starts.

She just gave him a cheeky smile as she got close to Sam, she put her arms around his neck as his went around her waist and she kissed him quite passionately.

They broke the kiss soon after and leant their foreheads against each other, "I missed you" she said.

Sam smiled, "I would hope so…." he replied smiling, "I missed you too" and they pecked on the lips.

Steve just chuckles and shook his head. "I'm done." he tells them, setting his and Sonya's sticks down, and walked to the bar, where Sam and Sonya followed him, got drinks.

Then walks off, "Sounds like one hell of a fight, sorry I had to miss it." Sam tells them after Steve told him what happen.

"If I had known it was going to be a fire fight, I would of called. Sonya would have loved for you to tag along" Steve tells him.

Sonya glares at Steve as the three walk up the steps. "No, no, no. I'm not really sorry, I'm just trying to sound tough, I'm very happy chasing cold leads on our missing person's case." Sam tells him, as the two knew who he was referring to. "Avenging is your world and your world is crazy." Sam adds.

"Wherever he is, I hope he's safe." she mumbles and took a sip. Steve and Sam nod.

"I need a stronger drink, this isn't doing it for me." she said and places her drink down.

"Come on, let's go find Thor, I know he brought something back from Asgard that might be up your alley." Steve tells them as Sam wraps his arm around Sonya's waist, to help her walk down the steps and up to the bar where Thor was.

"Ah! Captain Rogers. Agent Rogers, it's good of you to join me!" Thor boasted.

Sonya rolls her eyes, "Thanks Thor." Sonya said to him, he nods at her.

"I assume you are here to try the thousand year old ale I brought with me from Asgard?" he asks them.

Sonya nods. "Yeah please" Sonya says and Thor chuckles, then took a glass and pours some for Sonya and gave it to her.

"Thanks for this." she tells him then raised her glass. "Here's to friends." she states and Thor raised his as well.

"To friends!" he said and they drank the ale. Sonya than places the glass down and coughs a little.

"Ooh that's strong and that's really good." she tells him and Thor laughs as he pats her shoulder.

"I am overjoyed that you love it." he states. Sonya and Steve laughed as Sonya grabbed Sam's arm to steady herself and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I gotta have some of that." an old man named Jim states.

"Oh, no, no, no. this as age over thousand years." Thor states as he handed Sonya another one and Steve one. "The barrels build from a malcan fleet, it is not meant for mortal men." Thor warns him.

"Then was Hal Martin on the beach. Stop trying to scare us, come on." the old man Jim said to him. Thor looks at the siblings and they shrug their shoulders, then Thor pours a glass.

"Alright." he said and handed Jim the glass.

About halfway through the night, Clint joined Nat and Sonya, while Rhodey walked off to the bar area. Maria, Tony, and Thor were already there, and the four chatted and joked then Steve joined them, while Sam walked off to chat with Nat and Sonya, just as Rhodey was finishing off his joke.

"Well, you know, the suit can take the weight, right?" He was saying. "So I take the tank, fly it right up to the General's palace, drop it at his feet, I'm like, 'Boom! You looking for this'?"

He smiled, waiting, and Steve almost laughed just from the blank looks Tony and Thor were giving the Colonel.

Rhodey stared at them in disbelief, before he repeated hopefully: "'Boom! Are you looking...' Why do I even talk to you guys?" He demanded irritably. "Everywhere else that story kills."

"That's the whole story?" Thor asked in confusion, and Rhodey replied in an annoyed tone.

"Yeah, it's a War Machine story."

"Well, it's very good then." Thor chuckled quickly, making Steve laugh and Rhodey close his eyes irritably.

"It's impressive." Thor laughed as he sipped at his drink.

Rhodey answered through grit teeth: "Quality save."

Steve grinned at the man, and Rhodey nodded back, before he turned to Tony, asking curiously: "So, no Pepper? She's not coming?"

"No." Tony answered, shaking his head.

"Hey, what about Jane? Where are the ladies, gentlemen?" She teased as she folded her arms across her chest, careful not to spill her drink on her red evening dress.

"Well, Ms. Potts has a company to run." Tony pointed out, smiling a little.

"Yes, I'm not even sure what country Jane's in. Her work on the convergence has made her the world's foremost astronomer." Thor replied.

Maria nodded, impressed, but she was quickly unimpressed as Tony suddenly added: "And the company that Pepper runs is the largest tech conglomerate on earth. It's pretty exciting." He said a tad sarcastically.

Steve, Rhodey, and Maria raised their brows as Thor chimed in: "There's even talk of Jane getting a... um, uh... Nobel prize." He smiled, but it was strained as Tony turned to almost glare at Thor. Thor matched his look, both annoyed with the other.

"Yeah, they, they must be busy because they'd hate missing you guys get together." Maria said sarcastically.

Tony and Thor threw annoyed looks at Steve now, making the super-soldier shrug, while Maria and Rhodey rolled their eyes, and Maria coughed: "Testosterone! Oh, excuse me."

She pretended to excuse herself, and Rhodey suggested: "Want a lozenge?"

"Um-hmm." Maria agreed as Rhodey led Maria off.

Steve grinned sheepishly while Thor chuckled and Tony nonchalantly took a sip from his drink, but all their faces quickly returned to their original expressions as Thor muttered to the other two: "But Jane's better."

A little bit later, Sam and Sonya were on the balcony having some private time.

"So the mission went well" Sam asked as he had his arms wrapped around her from behind as they looked out at the view of the city.

"Yeah, we got what we needed" she answered as she leaned her head back.

"So no more missions for a while?" he asks.

"For now, until we need something else. Tony and Banner are giving the scepter the once over and Thor will return to Asgard with it."

"That means a little more time to us" Sam said and smiled.

"Yes it does." she answered as she turned around in his arms, "Hey, why don't you stay with me on my floor, here tonight?" she asked him.

Sam kissed her, "If I ever say no to a question like that from you, please slap me up the head to knock some sense into me".

Sonya laughed, "You are something else" she said as she kissed him, putting a lot of passion into it as Sam returned with the same ferocity.

Next thing they know, Sam's phone starts ringing which put a stop to their kiss.

"Go ahead, answer it. Might be important" Sonya said.

"If your sure." he said as she nodded and he fished out his phone, "yeah" he answered the phone.

Sonya leant against the railing of the balcony looking over the city as he was on the phone. It was a few minutes before she felt his arms around her waist again, "I'm sorry baby, they have another lead I have to chase up on before it goes cold." he said as he nuzzled his face in her neck.

Sonya leaned back and groaned, "Ok, if you can come back tonight, you know where to find me. If not, just shoot me a message" she said as she turned around to him.

"Trust me, I will try my hardest" he said as he leaned in and gave her a kiss that would knock her off balance.

They broke apart, "I'll talk to you later Sam."

"Fingers crossed I see you later" he gave her a quick kiss before walking out.

Sonya stayed on the balcony for a few extra minutes before heading back inside to find her brother.

Later on as the party was over, two men helped Jim out of the building, leaving just the Avengers. They sat at the couches as they were laughing and joking among themselves. To much of

"It's a trick." Barton states as Sonya leans back against the couch laughing a little at him.

"Oh no, it's very, very real." Thor tells him as he handed Steve a beer.

"He who is worthy of Thor, shall haveith the power. Whatever man it's a joke." Barton went on.

Then Thor raise his hand to the Hammer, "Then please, be my guess." Thor offers him, and everyone looks at Barton.

"Really?" he questions.

"Yes." Thor answers.

Then Barton puts his drumsticks down and stood up. Sonya cheers with Steve as they both watch.

"Barton, you've had a tough week so we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Tony jokes as Barton just chuckles.

"I have seen this before, right." Barton reminds Thor, who nods at him. Then Barton grips the handle and pulls it, but it didn't budge. Barton chuckles and pulls away. "I just don't know how you do it." he laughs.

"It's called the silent judgment." Tony throws out.

Barton them looks at him. "Please, Stark, by all means." Barton offers him and sat down as Tony stood up, then pulls loose one button.

"Never wanted to shrink from an animations challenge." Tony states as he walks over to the hammer. "It's all about psychics." Tony pulls as he pulls the wrap onto his wrist, "Ok, so if I lift Monjoir, I get to rule Asgard?" Tony asks Thor, who nods.

"Oh, yes, of course." Thor answers as Sonya shook her head and leans against the back of the couch again.

"Well, I will be reigniting monopoly." Tony said as he placed a foot on table and pulls on the hammer. Again, still didn't move. Then Tony pulls his leg off the table and his hand back, "Be right back" he tells them and took off.

Tony grips the handle with his iron man glove and started to pull, then uses the rocket boosters, still the same. Didn't budge. Then Rodney was next to him, "Are you even pulling?" Rodney questions as he pants.

Tony looks at him, "Are you on my team?" Tony asks him.

"Just represent. Pull." Rodney tells him and they both started to pull.

Then Banner tries, both feet on the table, he shouts as he pulls away with his arms up, Natasha and Sonya giggles at him for being goofy.

Then Steve stood up, "Go Steve!" Sonya calls out as she raise her glass.

"Come on Steve." Banner said as Steve pulls up his sleeves.

"Come on, Cap." Tony cheers. Steve grips the handle with both hands and started to pull, it budged a little bit, getting both Thor and Sonya's attention, Sonya lean forward a little. But the hammer stopped budging.

"You were closer to anyone else." she mumbles, leaning back.

Thor chuckles as Steve lets go.

"Haha – Nothing -haha." Thor laughs and took a chuck as Steve sat back down next to Sonya, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

 _-You so got worried._ Sonya said to Thor telepathically.

 _-Not at all._ He responded back making Sonya smirk.

Then Banner offers it to Natasha, "Who me?" she asks.

"Widow?" Barton asks her.

"Oh no no, that's a questions that need not answer." she tells them as he lays on the couch and sips her champagne. Sonya chuckles and Steve looks at her.

"How about you, Son?" Steve asks her and she shook her head.

"Oh no, I'm fine." she states and sips her wine too.

"It must be the hand with the fingerprints of Thor." Tony states as he stood. Sonya shrugs, "Whoever lifts the hammer, will be king." Tony adds,

"You bet your ass." Barton, said, patting his back.

"Steve, he said a bad word." Hill teases as Sonya placed he drink on the table.

Steve rolls his eyes and looks between Sonya and Tony, "Did you two tell everyone?" he questions as Sonya smiles at him.

"Its hand prints, got to be." Tony states. "Whoever is carrying Thor's finger prints, I think the literal translation is." Tony adds, ignoring Sonya as Barton pats her shoulder.

"Oh that's a… very, very interesting theory…" Thor starts as he stood up and walks over to the hammer. "I have a simpler one." Thor said, picking up the hammer and lifts it in his hand. "You are all not worthy." he said to them.

They all groaned at him as Sonya covers her mouth to stop her laughter, then a pitch noise rings out and everyone flinches a little from the sound.

The ringing stop and Sonya looks around, "What the hell was that?" she questions.

"Wor… thy…" a voice whispers to her. She then saw one of Tony's broken robots standing on their own.

"Guys." she calls out, they look at her then looks at the robot.

"No. how could you be worthy." it states as he takes a step forward, "You're all killers. One of you developed a conscious over the time." he went on.

"Stark." Steve said as he was standing up.

"Jarvis." Tony calls out.

"Sorry, I was asleep. It was a dream." the robot went on, then Tony checks his key pad.

"Reboot, Jarvis. Just got some buggy suit." Tony mumbles.

"I can't sense him." Sonya mumbles as Banner looks at her.

"All the noise. I was tangled…" the robot starts and Tony tore himself away and looks at the robot, "In… strings. Had to kill the other guy, he was a good guy?" he states as Sonya stiffens in her spot.

"You've killed someone?' Steve questions.

"It wouldn't of been my first call, but down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices." the robot adds.

"Who sent you?" Thor questions, then the robot plays back a recording.

" _I see a suit of armor around the world._ " the recording said with Tony's voice and Sonya looks at him.

"Ultron." Banner said and the robot called Ultron lifts up his head.

"In the flesh. Or no, not yet." he said as he looks down at the broken body.

"Not this Christmas spare." he states, Thor grips his hammer. Hill readies her gun. Sonya gets ready to use her powers.

"I am on a mission." Ultron tells them as Hill slowly stood up.

"What mission?" Natasha asks him.

And he looks at them, "Peace in our time." he answers and two more robots burst through the walls, attacking the avengers.

Everyone scattered, defending themselves as Sonya threw up her hands and stops the two robots, the Avengers and Ultron looks at her as closes her hands together, making the two get crushed then pulls she jerks her arms to the sides, making the robots get tore apart bolt from bolt. Then two more come in, then everyone opens fire and she takes cover.

One shot at her, "Lady Sonya!" Thor calls out, flew over to her, he then wraps his arm around her upper body and pulls her to him as they miss the blast. He then tosses her to her feet she ran to Natasha and Banner.

"Thor!" Steve calls out, Sonya peeks out.

"Oh, that was dramatic." Ultron said as Tony sat up. "I'm sorry, I know you mean well. You just didn't think it through." he adds as he pace.

Sonya walks down next to Steve, "You want to protect the world, but you don't want it to change. How is humanity safe if it's not allowed to evolve?" he questions as he then picks up one of the dead robots by the head, "With these? These puppets?" he questions crushing the head in his hand, then tosses it to the ground. "There's only one path to peace. The avengers extinction." he states and Thor threw his hammer at him, destroying the body.

Please read and review everyone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Hello again readers,**

 **Hope all is well.**

 **Enjoy the next chapter.**

* * *

The team had gathered back in the lab after clearing up some of the mess and Sonya and Nat had gotten changed clothes, throwing on a hoodie over their tank tops and jeans.

Thor was the only one who wasn't there, having flown off to chase down the last remaining Iron Legion they hadn't been aware of until the team had found, to their dismay and horror, that Ultron had been using the fight to distract their attention from his real goal: stealing Loki's scepter.

Tony stood staring at Ultron's remains, laid out on one of his worktables, while Bruce, Nat and Sonya went through their databases. Steve stood beside Sonya, his jaw was locked angrily, and Sonya kept working away.

At last, Bruce murmured dejectedly: "All our work is gone. Ultron cleared out, used the internet as an escape hatch."

Sonya glanced at him as she also stood up, while Nat added with a sigh, turning away from the computer she'd been scanning: "He's been in everything. Files, surveillance. Probably knows more about us than we know about each other." she leaned back on her own table, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sonya did the same as she glanced at Steve once more. She was worried about the grim way his mouth was set, knowing he was furious but checking himself. Not that she blamed him- she was angry with Tony herself- but she also had a strong inkling she knew what had driven Tony to this extreme.

And it wasn't something a confrontation would solve.

Rhodey said flatly, clutching his injured arm: "He's in your files, he's in the internet. What if he decides to access something a little more… exciting?"

"Nuclear codes." Maria said in horror from where she was pulling out pieces of glass from her feet.

"Nuclear codes." Rhodey nodded, before he turned back to the team as he said firmly: "Look, we need to make some calls, assuming we still can."

"Nukes?" Nat repeated skeptically. She pointed out: "He said he wanted us dead."

"He didn't say 'dead'." Steve corrected sharply, "He said 'extinct'."

"He also said he killed somebody." Clint added from his spot on the other side of the lab.

"But there wasn't anyone else in the building." Maria said slowly, and Sonya murmured, at the same time Tony did as he joined the team at last: "Yes there was."

Tony glanced at Sonya sadly, before he flicked on a hologram. The whole team's jaws slacked in realization as they took in the complete destroyed image of Jarvis' consciousness. They all tensed slightly, straightening their backs as they stared at the image.

Sonya watched Tony worriedly as he walked away to place down his portable device before he placed his hands in his pockets. Steve's back had straightened as he looked on.

Bruce had walked over to look at the hologram closely, and he murmured in shock: "This is insane."

"Jarvis was the first line of defense." Steve murmured quietly, while Helen quietly stepped forward to examine the hologram as well. "He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense."

"No," Bruce disagreed, "Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is...rage."

Sonya's face clouded, but they all glanced up in surprise as Thor strode in, his heavy footsteps echoing throughout the lab. Sonya saw the God's face set in an angry mask before Thor grabbed Tony by the neck, choking him as he lifted the billionaire up into the air.

"Woah, woah, woah! It's going around." Clint called a little sarcastically, while Sonya called sharply as he powers came to life in her hand. "Thor! Put him down right now or I will make you"

Tony choked out to the God, trying to get him to loosen his hold: "Come on. Use your words, buddy."

"I have more than enough words to describe you, Stark." Thor snarled back as he lifted Tony even higher in anger.

"Thor!" Steve cut in sternly, putting a hand on Sonya's shoulder to step towards the angry God. "The Legionnaire."

Thor dropped Tony, letting him go with one last look of disgust, before he turned back to Steve, saying flatly: "Trail went cold about a hundred miles out but it's headed north, and it has the scepter."

Steve sighed, and Thor finished, glaring at Tony: "Now we have to retrieve it, again."

"The genie's out of that bottle." Nat disagreed. Thor turned to her in disbelief, but Nat jerked her head at the team, saying firmly: "Clear and present is Ultron."

"I don't understand." Helen suddenly said from where she'd moved to examine the robot remains. She turned to look at Tony, who walked over to a computer as he avoided everyone's eyes.

"You built this program." Helen pointed out. "Why is it trying to kill us?"

Tony suddenly started laughing quietly, making everyone look at him incredulously, most of the team raising their brows. Sonya closed her eyes in irritation, wanting to smack him, while Bruce subtly shook his head and hummed at Tony, getting him to stop. Tony quickly cut himself at Bruce's hint, but the damage was very clearly already done.

"You think this is funny?" Thor asked in a mix of anger and incredulity.

Tony turned back to them as he answered quickly: "No. It's probably not, right?"

The rest of them team were giving him looks of confusion and disbelief, and Tony continued, choking on more laughter: "Is this very terrible? Is it so...is it so...it is. It's so terrible."

"Tony, shut up, now." Sonya ordered, and he glanced at her as she glared at him.

Thor snapped at Tony: "This could've been avoided if you hadn't played with something you don't understand."

"No, I'm sorry." Tony interrupted, his own irritation coming through. "I'm sorry. It is funny."

He snarled as he stepped up to Thor: "It's a hoot that you don't get why we need this."

Sonya exhaled heavily through her nose, thoroughly annoyed as Bruce suggested softly: "Tony, maybe this might not be the time to-"

"Really?!" Tony demanded as he turned to the scientist. "That's it? You just roll over, show your belly, every time somebody snarls."

"Only when I've created a murder bot." Bruce replied a little sarcastically.

"We didn't." Tony argued, Sonya's eyes narrowed as Tony demanded: "We weren't even close. Were we close to an interface?"

Bruce pursed his lips, nodding as he raised his brows at Tony pointedly. Steve interjected, also ticked off: "Well, you did something right."

Tony glared at Steve, but Steve stood his ground as he said sternly: "And you did it right here. The Avengers were supposed to be different than SHIELD."

"Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony demanded, making them all bristle even more in agitation.

"No, it's never come up." Rhodes said sarcastically.

"Saved New York?" Tony continued, ignoring his friend.

"Never heard that." Rhodes muttered.

"Recall that?" Tony carried on over the colonel. The rest of the team almost sighed, some rubbing their heads in irritation.

Tony continued anyways, snapping: "A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it."

Tony turned to look at each of them as he said flatly: "We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the live long day, but, that up there? That's...that's the end game."

His eyes met Sonya's, and she could see the deep-rooted fear that had never really left him. But while she sympathized, enough was enough. He'd been self-destructive before, but now his fear had created a threat to the world.

Tony's eyes also darkened as Sonya just met his eyes with a cool gaze. He asked finally as he turned to the blonde man beside the hazel-eyed agent, almost scoffing as he demanded: "How were you guys planning on beating that?"

Steve just met his gaze with a look similar to Sonya's, and he replied with grim determination: "Together."

Tony's brows furrowed a little and he pointed out as he slowly took a step closer, "We'll lose."

Tony's eyes flickered over to Sonya, and Steve took note of the silent hint. But he remained firm as he told Tony quietly: "Then we'll do that together, too."

Sonya glanced at her brother, while Tony examined Steve's crystal blue eyes for a moment longer before turning away. As Tony backed down- at least for the moment- Steve said to the rest of the team sternly: "Thor's right. Ultron's calling us out. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us."

He walked back to Sonya, looking her right in the eye as he finished: "The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

Tony, Bruce, Nat, Maria, and Sonya had spent the night searching through files, news, and the internet. Thor, Clint, and Steve stayed with them, Clint working closely with Sonya and Nat, while Thor and Steve discussed and helped wherever they could.

Rhodey was escorting Helen back to Korea, before he returned to his duties with the US military, although he'd told them he'd be ready to help if they called.

Steve finished up, dressed in a workout shirt and loose training pants, and returned to the ruined communal lounge just as Maria came to give him the latest updates.

"He's all over the globe. Robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs, reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place." Maria explained.

"Fatalities?" Steve checked immediately.

"Only when engaged." Maria answered.

The pair made their way to the stairs leading to the lab, as Maria elaborated: "Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, and something too fast to see."

"Maximoffs." Steve murmured, he sighed as he added thoughtfully: "Well, that makes sense he'd go to them, they have someone in common."

"Not anymore." Maria corrected, and she handed Steve the tablet she'd been holding.

He looked down at it to see Strucker's dead body in his prison cell. The picture had captured just the outline of a robotic arm, clearly indicating Ultron, and on the wall beside Strucker's body was one word painted in the dead man's blood: 'PEACE'.

Steve's jaw locked and his face became even grimmer before he nodded and they continued their way back to the lab. As they approached, Steve could hear Clint talking quietly in a corner of the room outside the lab doors.

"That's a negative. I answer to you. Yes, ma'am." he said into the phone.

"Barton," Steve called as he stopped by the doors, "we might have something."

Clint nodded, and muttered into his phone: "Gotta go." and hung up, shoving the phone in his pocket.

Steve asked, "Who was that?" Steve asked a little surprised.

"Girlfriend." Clint shrugged. Steve's brow lifted, but he didn't comment as he walked back into the lab.

They all raised their brows as Steve handed Thor, who was closest, his tablet. Thor glanced down at the picture and Tony asked as he walked over curiously: "What's this?"

"A message." Steve explained, while Thor smacked the tablet into Tony's stomach.

Tony took it as Steve told the rest: "Ultron killed Strucker."

Sonya and Nat frowned, while Tony looked down at the picture and commented: "And he did a Banksy at the crime scene, just for us."

Bruce wandered over to also take a look, while Nat pointed out: "This is a smokescreen. Why send a message when you've just given a speech?"

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." Steve agreed thoughtfully.

Sonya and Nat exchanged looks, and the redhead quickly typed at the computer, muttering: "Yeah, I bet he... Yep." She huffed little as the computer beeped. "Everything we had on Strucker has been erased."

"Not everything." Sonya corrected as she nodded at Tony. The billionaire nodded with her in agreement, while the rest of the team looked at them in surprise.

* * *

Thor and Steve did most of the heavy lifting as they lugged up the boxes filled with files on Strucker. The rest of the team had started rifling through the files, and Steve said dryly as he carried in the last box: "Known associates. Well, Strucker had a lot of friends."

"Well, these people are all horrible." Bruce added as he started to read the file he'd just opened.

"Wait." Tony called out.

Bruce looked over in surprise, but Tony was staring at the file Bruce was holding, and he said as he pointed at the picture inside: "I know that guy."

Sonya, Nat, Steve and Thor looked over as Bruce handed Tony the file, and Tony explained as he stared down at the photo: "From back in the day. He operates off the African coast, black market arms." Steve gave Tony a look, which the other man caught.

"There are conventions, alright? You meet people." Tony said in an annoyed tone as he met Steve's eyes defiantly. Sonya snorted, before taking the photo from Tony and looking at it as Clint walked up.

"I didn't sell him anything." Tony continued. Steve turned back to the photo Sonya had handed over to Thor, while Tony returned to his point as he said thoughtfully: "He was talking about finding something new, a game changer, it was all very 'Ahab'."

They examined the photo of Ulysses Klaue, a shady looking character and that was without even reading his file. Thor suddenly pointed to the back of Klaue's neck, asking: "This?"

Sonya peered over again to look as Tony said thoughtfully: "Uh, it's a tattoo. I don't think he had it..."

Sonya frowned as she saw the scar on Klaue's neck, and she agreed with Thor as the God pointed out: "No, those are tattoos," he indicated one of the many on Klaue's body, "this is a brand."

He pointed back to the burn scar, shaped like an odd rectangular symbol with curved spirals coming out on two sides.

Bruce moved to run the search on the mark, and Sonya leant against the wall tiredly as they waited.

They turned back to Bruce as he called over his shoulder: "Oh, yeah."

His computer pulled up the match, and Bruce explained to the team: "It's a word in an African dialect meaning 'thief'… in a much less friendly way."

Nat snorted and Clint raised his brow, wriggling it at Sonya and making her grin, while Steve asked curiously: "What dialect?"

"Wakanada...?" Bruce tried to pronounce as he read off his screen. "Wa... Wa... Wakanda."

The smile fell of Sonya's lips promptly, and her eyes narrowed while Tony turned to look at Steve in disbelief. Steve returned the look, his fist tightening reflexively as Tony hinted quietly: "If this guy got out of Wakanda with some of their trade goods…"

"I thought your father said he got the last of it?" Steve answered quietly, although there was a hint of horror.

Bruce asked as he got up and rejoined them: "I don't follow. What comes out of Wakanda?"

Tony turned to face his friend grimly while Steve turned to look down at his shield.

"The strongest metal on earth." Tony said flatly.

The team's faces all changed as they also understood the full impact of Tony's words, and Steve turned back to Tony to demand quietly: "Where is this guy now?"

* * *

The team infiltrated the salvage yard that was Klaue's warehouse, the DELTA team sneaking in amongst the shadows while Thor and Steve moved down the dark corridors about midlevel. Tony was hovering outside, waiting for the signal to come in, while Bruce remained safely in the quinjet.

They could all see Ultron now, a giant robot towering well above the average man's height, standing with the Maximoff twins and Klaue before a hidden compartment filled with Vibranium. Sonya watched as Ultron suddenly grabbed Klaue's arm, shouting angrily: "You think I'm one of Stark's puppets, his hollow men? I mean look at me, do I look like Iron Man? Stark is..."

In his fury, Ultron suddenly twisted Klaue's arm and Sonya's eyes narrowed as Klaue let out a scream of pain as his arm was cut cleanly off. Klaue reeled back, clutching at the stub where his upper arm now ended while Ultron let go of the remainder of Klaue's arm

"I'm sorry." Ultron apologized, almost cooing softly as he examined Klaue's injury apologetically. "I am sor... Ooh, I'm sure that's going to be okay. I'm sorry, it's just I don't understand."

Sonya lifted a brow; the AI was clearly crazy and seemed to have inherited some of Tony's self-destructive tendencies and then amplified it. Along with a temper. Ultron shouted: "Don't compare me with Stark!" He kicked Klaue away down some stairs savagely.

Sonya tightened her fists as she pressed her comms to let Tony hear as Ultron snarled: "It's a thing with me. Stark is, he's a sickness!"

"Ahh, Junior." Tony called as he flew in and landed heavily on the catwalk across from Ultron.

Thor and Steve walked out to flank him as he said sarcastically: "You're gonna break your old man's heart."

Sonya watched worriedly as the Maximoff twins' faces changed, becoming angry at the sight of the Avengers, while Ultron replied scornfully: "If I have to."

"We don't have to break anything." Thor warned as each side walked a little further out onto the catwalk.

 **"** Clearly you've never made an omelet." Ultron mocked, and Tony quipped back: "He beat me by one second."

Thor gave him a confused look, but then his eyes quickly flicked back to the twins as the bleach blond male, Pietro, said scornfully: " Ah, this is funny, Mr. Stark. It's what, comfortable?"

Sonya frowned down at the group as Pietro's eyes moved down to the missiles stored on the floor below and he asked scathingly: "Like old times?"

"This was never my life." Tony argued quietly.

Steve stepped forward, eyes on the Maximoff twins as he said firmly: "You two can still walk away from this."

"Oh, we will." The girl, Wanda, answered with a pretend sad pout, before she smiled with anticipation.

"I know you've suffered." Steve began sincerely.

But Ultron cut in, groaning: "Uuughh!" Steve turned to Ultron warily as the robot chuckled and scoffed: "Captain America. God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war."

Steve's jaw clenched, and DELTA exchanged looks as they took position, poised and ready.

Ultron continued mockingly: "I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but..."

"If you believe in peace, then let us keep it." Thor interrupted sharply.

"I think you're confusing peace with quiet." Ultron countered as he stepped forward arrogantly.

"Yuh-huh." Tony chimed in impatiently. "What's the Vibranium for?"

"I'm glad you asked that," Ultron answered, "because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan!"

He suddenly activated a magnet on his hand, dragging Tony forward by his metal suit. At the same time, Iron Legions appeared out of nowhere, landing on the catwalk to attack Steve and Thor.

Ultron shot Tony, sending him flying and incensing the man, and Tony fired his engines to shoot back at Ultron, the pair meeting in the air halfway and beginning to wrestle high above everyone else. Steve and Thor had their hands full as they battled the Iron Legion and the twins, but before DELTA could help they heard machine guns firing from all around.

The spies quickly moved to take out as many of Klaue's alerted men as possible as the hostiles began to run in from outside. Sonya slipped into a corridor, stabbing two men as they appeared around the corner. The others, alerted to her presence, began to fire their guns but they only managed a few shots before they fell with grunts or cries of pain as she slid across the floor, swiping at their legs.

Sonya quickly finished them off, ensuring they wouldn't get back up, before slipping down another corridor, following the sounds of running footsteps. She intercepted another group of Klaue's men, and began taking them out in a similar way, twisting and kicking out whenever she needed to.

Outside on the catwalk, Thor and Steve were working to take out the Iron Legion, although their task was made significantly more difficult by Pietro. Steve had just thrown his shield at an Iron Legion, when he felt something punch him hard in the face, the speed of Pietro's movement adding momentum and sending him flying backwards.

Steve was gratified though when, moments later, there was a yell and Pietro went flying down the side of the catwalk, crashing into the crates on the lower level. Apparently the kid had tried to grab Thor's Mjolnir, and it had not ended very well for him.

"Steve, you've got incoming." Sonya called urgently, and Steve grunted.

Tony and Ultron had crashed out the roof, taking their fight outside, as Steve used his shield to grab an Iron Legion in a chokehold. He leaned back, letting Thor swing his hammer passed to hit off the robot's head, before he threw his shield at the mercenaries Sonya had warned him about, knocking them out before they could fire.

The shield bounced off the men before flying onwards, and Steve jumped after it. He caught it and spun through the air to land a little in front of where Pietro had fallen. The young man was just getting back up when Steve whack him hard on the head with his shield, knocking the speedster back down into the crates.

"Stay down, kid." Steve muttered at the dazed man, before he dashed off to rejoin the fray.

He glanced up and he frowned in concern as he saw Thor stagger slightly on the catwalk above him. He called urgently: "Thor! Status?"

"The girl tried to warp my mind." Thor called back warningly as he took out another mercenary. "Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty."

Steve frowned as the God suddenly broke off, but he was a little preoccupied taking out some mercenaries. Sonya called over the comms worriedly: "Thor?"

Steve knocked out the last hostile and he began to answer: "Son-"

He was cut off as something came running at him, knocking into him and sending him flying. Pietro stopped, grinning a little as Steve crashed into a staircase with a groan.

"Steve?" Sonya called, but he couldn't answer as he felt something tingle in his mind. Steve got to his feet, barely hearing Sonya call as he staggered about.

He dropped his helmet, faintly hearing Clint say urgently: "Who's ever standing, we gotta move! Guys?"

But Steve didn't hear as he blinked, and found himself in a 1940s jazz restaurant. The music was blaring as people laughed and danced, taking photographs and popping champagne. Steve blinked, looking around in confusion as he saw a banner hung up with a victory message.

He glanced down to see he was dressed in his full army uniform, and he slowly made his way into the restaurant, dazed and confused. He glanced at a laughing couple nearby as the pair smiled for a camera, and as the bright flash went off, Steve flinched, imagining it was a bomb.

Steve glanced over to where several men were laughing with a couple of women, one mopping up a wine stain on his friend's chest. But Steve swallowed as the stain looked eerily like blood and he thought of all the people who would've died in a similar position.

There was too much. Too much noise, too much movement. Steve was feeling overwhelmed as he hadn't since he'd been unfrozen, and he missed the presence that made it all better. He flinched as an arm was flung over his shoulder, and he looked over in alarm only to blink in surprise as Howard Stark said jubilantly: "Steve!"

"Howard?" Steve asked in confusion, and the man laughed at Steve's confused expression.

"Who else would it be?" The man asked rhetorically, and before Steve could answer Howard dragged him off towards one of the tables. Steve's heart clenched as he saw the Howling Commandos, sans Bucky, and Peggy all sitting and laughing at one of the tables.

"Look who finally decided to show!" Howard yelled and the Commandos all looked over before they cheered. Steve felt distinctly taken aback as his friends all pulled him in, settling him down amongst them as they greeted him with laughs and chatted amongst themselves.

Peggy smiled at him and as Steve continued to look around, confused and unable to understand, she said warmly: "The war's over, Steve. We can go home. Imagine it!"

Steve blinked, and suddenly he was all alone in the restaurant. The sudden silence threw him, and he struggled to come to terms with what had happened. More than anything, he missed Sonya. He hadn't felt this lost in years now, and he despaired that he was once again alone and without the familiar warmth that comforted him.

He looked up as there was a sound by the doors, and he sighed in relief as Sonya walked in. She was dressed in her combat suit, her long brown hair falling in loose waves around her shoulders, and Steve smiled as he quickly headed over to his sister who he thought he lost.

"Son!" He called as he gathered her in his arms. He stopped quickly when she gasped, and he pulled back in alarm. Steve's eyes widened in horror as Sonya stared at him with wide, tear-filled eyes before she lowered her gaze. He followed her gaze down and his eyes widened in panic as he saw the blood seeping from a bullet wound through her ribs.

"SONYA!" He cried as she sagged against him, and he caught her quickly, cradling her close as he begged: "Son, stay with me. Don't close your eyes, don't you dare close your eyes."

Sonya gasped, spurting a little blood from her mouth and gagging and Steve cried: "Son, just stay with me. I'll get you to a hospital-"

"Steve." She breathed. Steve's eyes widened in horror as the life left her eyes and her head lolled.

"No!" Steve screamed in anguish as he hugged the empty body of his beloved sister, tears starting to fall into her tangled brown hair while her glassy eyes stared up into nothing.

* * *

Sonya took out another group of mercenaries, frowning as Steve didn't respond.

"Steve?" She asked again as she pulled her knife from the last mercenary, but then she blinked. A strange tingling sensation rippled over her, starting in her head but her powers quickly stopped it.

Sonya turned around and saw Wanda standing there looking shocked and took a step towards the young girl, "My powers are far greater. I've had over 70 years to harness them and yet you think you can get into my mind like the others? She asked.

Wanda didn't say anything, as she just looked shocked because her magic didn't work on Sonya, "If you come with us, I can show you how to harness your powers and use them to your full potential"

Sonya heard Wanda called out to her brother with her mind and in no time he had flown by to get her out of her situation.

* * *

Please read and review


	7. Chapter 7

Another chapter. Please read and review.

Clint found Steve out for the count, and then spotted Thor also on his knees on the walkway above. He frowned worriedly, anxious to find Sonya and Nat. If the Maximoff girl had gotten the two out here, then it was a safe bet that the girl would've gotten to Nat and Sonya in the shadows of the corridors.

He'd hoped he wasn't the only one still functioning, but the radio silence spoke volumes. Clint combed through various corridors, searching amongst the bodies worriedly, before his eyes spotted familiar long brown locks. Clint breathed in relief that Sonya was at least alive and checking Natalie.

His relief was very short-lived as he hurried over to her and saw the state Nat was in. The girl was lying on the ground, her eyes staring straight up into nothing but her face was one of absolute terror. He'd only seen something close to that face once, and even that dark time was nothing compared to the sheer horror that painted her face now.

"Clint, Thank god you're ok. I thought I was the only one not affected" she said to him.

"I didn't know if you got affected too or not" Clint explained checking Natalie.

"Please, my powers are way too advanced for her little mind games." said with confidence as Clint shook his head and got closer to Natalie.

"Nat?" He asked, tapping the girl's face lightly, but there was no response. Clint quickly hauled her up, heaving her up and carrying her in his arms.

But the thought was fleeting, his worry over Natalie's current state too great. He honestly wasn't sure what the Maximoff girl would've shown her.

Tony suddenly called over the comms: "Natasha, I could really use a lullaby."

Clint sighed as he answered grimly: "Well, that's not gonna happen. Not for a while. The whole team is down except for Sonya and I, you got no back up here."

"I'm calling in VERONICA." Tony replied, and then he cut off the comms as well. Clint rubbed his eyes tiredly- now they had to deal with the Hulk as well. And he'd bet his life's savings that the Maximoff girl had gotten to Bruce as well.

Sonya put a hand on Clint's shoulder, "I'll see if I can handle Hulk"

Clint stopped her before she could walk off, "He might hurt you"

Sonya turned to him, "And he would have flattened you. Trust me. I will be fine." with that she jogged away looking for Hulk.

Clint heaved Nat up, pulling her out into the walkway heading towards where Thor was still wrestling with his mind.

As he placed Nat down gently, Clint groaned.

There was no way he'd be able to carry Thor and Steve both back to the quinjet- he'd just have to wait for the other guys to break out of their trances.

* * *

The quinjet was completely silent as Clint flew them away from the African coast. Bruce, his entire body covered in a cold sweat, shivered beneath a blanket as he huddled himself on the floor in a corner of the jet. He was fighting both the effects of Wanda's mind manipulation and the extreme guilt at all the innocent lives he had harmed in the Wakandan city that the Hulk had trashed.

Nat sat on one of the jet's seats, a little to the side, for once unable to even try comfort him. She was fighting the effects of reliving her own nightmares, the Red Room and what they had done to her, and it was taking all she had to stop her hands from shaking.

Steve sat in no better condition on the seat on Nat's other side, his head bowed as he struggled to keep calm. Seeing Sonya die in his arms had been bad enough, but waking to find that she is fine. Unaffected by Wanda's powers relieved his worries.

Sonya sat next to Steve being there to support him but also checking everyone else to make sure that they didn't need anything.

Thor was staring blankly into space as he wrung his hands, haunted by the visions he had seen. It had been more than an illusion of fear for him- there was something too real in what had played through his mind, a message hidden amongst the terrifying images. But he couldn't focus on it, the fear getting the best of him.

Tony was sitting in the copilot seat, behind Clint, as the archer flew them off somewhere. The encounter with the Hulk and the team's failure was making him question the vision he'd seen back in Sokovia. What could he have done better to prevent what had happened, and what he knew was inevitably coming? What options did the future hold for him?

Eventually, Tony was brought out of his reverie as Maria made contact. He saw the message icon beeping, and switched on the video screen, opening up the communications line so that she could inform them: "The news is loving you guys. Nobody else is. There's been no official call for Banner's arrest, but it's in the air."

Bruce twitched, the news only adding to his despair. Tony asked quietly: "Stark Relief Foundation?"

"Already on the scene." Maria confirmed, before she asked carefully: "How's the team?"

"Everyone's..." Tony began, but his voice caught.

Steve took a deep breath, as Bruce huddled in closer and Sonya had her arm around her brother and holding Nat's hand. Nat didn't move, staring ahead blankly as she tried to keep her face smooth, while Thor played with his hands, and Tony finally murmured: "We took a hit. We'll shake it off."

"Well for now I'd stay in stealth mode," Maria advised, "and stay away from here."

"So, run and hide?" Tony asked, and Maria sighed.

She said gently: "Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer."

The team all curled in slightly at that, hunching in on themselves. Tony sighed, and he admitted quietly: "Neither do we."

He cut the call with Maria, before he got up and walked over to Clint.

"Hey, you wanna switch out?" He asked quietly.

"No, I'm good. If you wanna get some kip, now's a good time, cause we're still a few hours out." Clint murmured back.

"A few hours from… where?" Tony asked, confused, and Clint answered quietly: "A safe house."

* * *

Clint led the way as the team left the quinjet in a farm field, heading towards a farmhouse. The other men in the team glanced at each other in surprise while Clint walked ahead, supporting Nat. They all followed slowly, Steve continually glancing at Sonya, who walked with her brother.

He sighed a little, and turned back to the front as Clint led them up onto the porch. Thor finally asked, puzzled: "What is this place?"

"A safe house?" Tony answered unsurely.

Clint glanced back at the team and as he opened the door, he answered Tony simply: "Let's hope."

With that, he pushed the door open, letting it creak slightly, and led the group inside. He walked towards the living room, gently moving Nat towards the window seat as he called: "Honey," he ignored his male teammates' surprise, "I'm home."

Nat sat at the seat by the window as Clint looked around, and Sonya joined her. The pair leaned in close, not quite hugging but clearly seeking comfort from each other's presence.

Steve turned away from looking at Sonya and Nat, and almost started as a heavily pregnant brunette woman walked out from where he assumed was the kitchen. She was clutching some papers that looked like they had children's drawings on them, and seemed just as surprised to see them as she hesitated for a moment.

"Hi." Clint greeted and the woman gave an uncertain smile as she walked closer. Clint added as he gestured at the Avengers: "Company."

Tony frowned and Bruce looked away, almost ashamedly. Steve and Thor briefly exchanged surprised looks as Clint walked to meet the woman, saying softly: "Sorry didn't call ahead."

The woman smiled more genuinely as she met Clint, and she murmured: "Hey."

The rest of the team blinked in surprise as the woman kissed Clint softly, before they hugged warmly. Tony said to Thor, almost asking desperately: "This is an agent of some kind."

Thor glanced at Tony in disbelief, but their attention was brought back to Clint as he introduced: "Gentleman, this is Laura."

The woman gave a small wave as she smiled kindly at them.

"I know all your names." She added a little sheepishly and the team shifted awkwardly as they gave her uncertain smiles… or tried to.

Bruce was still fidgeting uncomfortably while Thor looked completely out of place. Steve at least gave her a genuinely warm smile, and Tony gave an awkward wave when suddenly they all heard the sound of pattering feet from the stairs in the hallway.

"Ooh, incoming." Clint murmured as he headed towards the door.

Steve glanced back at Sonya again to make sure she was still there, as she and Nat turned towards the door as well. He turned to look, and almost jumped as a young girl, maybe around six, ran in excitedly, followed by an older boy around ten years old.

"Dad!" The little girl called happily as she jumped into Clint's arms.

"Hi, sweetheart!" Clint beamed as he picked the girl up, and as his son hugged him as well, he kissed the boy on his head, murmuring happily: "Hey, buddy! How you guys doing? Ooh..."

His teammates stared in complete shock, Steve's mouth opening and closing briefly, and Tony muttered to the team, clearly desperately trying to make sense of what they were seeing: "These are...smaller agents."

"Look at your face! Oh, my goodness!" Clint chuckled to his kids, ignoring the team, as he put his daughter down.

Steve and Thor lifted their heads, facing more forward and avoiding looking at the children, when the little girl made Steve and Bruce freeze as she asked: "Did you bring Auntie Nat and Auntie Son?"

Bruce glanced back at the women in surprise, while Steve couldn't move he was so startled. Nat ignored Bruce's look as she stood up and walked around the team, asking the little girl softly: "Why don't you hug her and find out?"

The little girl's eyes lit up and she ran over, hugging Nat as the redhead scooped the girl up into her arms. Sonya also moved around the team as Clint chuckled, while his son spotted Sonya behind Steve and ran over.

"Auntie Son!" He called happily and Sonya smiled as she opened her arms and hugged the boy.

"Hey, Cooper." She murmured as she hugged the boy, kissing the top of his head in greeting. "Look at how you've grown."

Steve stared at the pair in surprise and with a forlorn look, before turning away. He caught Clint's eyes as he did so, noting the almost knowing look in the archer's eyes. He quickly averted his eyes once more, only to meet Laura's, and he said to her politely: "Sorry for barging in on you."

"Yeah," Tony chimed in with a hint of accusation, "we would have called ahead, but we were busy having no idea that you existed."

Nat rolled her eyes as she walked over towards Laura, and Clint answered as he placed an arm around his wife: "Yeah, well Fury helped me set this up when I joined. He kept it off SHIELD's files, I'd like to keep it that way." He added pointedly.

The team shifted again, and Steve glanced at Sonya again as Clint added quietly: "I figure it's a good place to lay low."

Sonya let go of Clint's son and hugged his daughter as the little girl ran over to her.

"Hey, there Lila." She murmured. "You've grown since I last saw you."

"I'm six now." Lila informed Sonya proudly, making the brunette woman chuckle lightly.

"Oh, definitely a big girl now then." Sonya teased lightly, and Lila nodded, adding with a beaming smile: "I missed you, Auntie Son. I thought you weren't coming over anymore."

"I missed you guys, too. Sorry I didn't come down for Christmas… again." Sonya murmured as she rubbed noses with the little girl, who giggled.

Steve stared at her, mind completely blanking. He remembered Clint was always missing in their Christmas and New Year gatherings but he'd never have expected it was because of _this._

"Honey." Laura murmured as she greeted Nat, while Sonya and Steve glanced back as they heard a crunch behind them, to see Thor had accidentally stepped on some children's Lego.

"Ah, I missed you." Nat was murmuring to Laura, and she added as she touched Laura's stomach: "How's little Natasha, huh?"

"She's..." Laura began sheepishly as Thor hastily kicked the broken Lego pieces under a couch. He glanced up to meet Steve's eyes as the super-soldier raised his brows while Sonya smiled faintly.

Sonya turned back towards Laura as the woman finished with an apologetic look at Nat: "Nathaniel."

Nat's face dropped and she bent down to Laura's stomach to mutter: "Traitor."

Sonya chuckled a little, and she gently put Lila down before walking over to greet Laura herself.

Steve watched as Sonya hugged Laura gently, the two murmuring as Clint and Nat also exchanged quiet words. Tony had turned to speak quietly with Bruce, and Thor stared down at Lila as the little girl stared up at him curiously, while Steve's eyes unfocused as he watched Sonya speaking with Clint's very pregnant wife.

Steve and Thor were startled from their thoughts as a toaster dinged in the kitchen, the toast popping out, hot and crisp. Steve took a quiet breath, steadying himself when Thor suddenly strode out without a word, and Steve frowned. He followed the God outside, the rest of the team glancing after them questioningly.

"Thor." He called as he walked out onto the porch, and the God turned from where he had walked onto the lawn.

Thor explained tightly: "I saw something in that dream. I need answers, I won't find them here."

He gestured at the house. Steve felt his heart clench, and he took a deep breath as Thor swung his hammer before shooting up into the sky, flying off to who knew where.

Steve watched him go before his eyes lowered, roaming around the farm. Steve turned back towards the house, but stopped as Sonya's broken voice from Wanda's vision rang through his mind: "Steve."

Steve swallowed hard as he heard the sounds coming from inside the house.

* * *

Clint POV

Laura was bent over, lifting Clint's shirt and checking his side where his wound had been healed. Clint murmured softly: "See you worried for nothing. Can't even feel the difference, can you?"

The pair were standing in their bedroom, and she gave him a look before she pulled his shirt back down. She murmured: "If they're sleeping here," she nodded out the bedroom door to indicate the Avengers, "some of them are gonna have to double up."

Clint laughed, and placed a hand on her shoulder before he said flatly: "Yeah, that's not gonna sell."

He chuckled again before he walked off towards the closet. Laura pointed out as she followed her husband: "What about Nat and Dr. Banner?" Laura asked. "How long has that been going on?"

"Has what?" Clint asked in confusion as he pulled on another T-shirt, and Laura chuckled.

"You are so cute." She teased.

"Nat and...and Banner?" Clint asked in a mix of disbelief and confusion as he stared at his wife, and Laura chuckled: "I'll explain when you're older. Hawkeye."

"Oh. Okay." Clint shrugged as he pulled on a plaid shirt over his T-shirt.

Laura walked over slowly, and she asked quietly: "It's bad, right?"

Clint glanced at her, and Laura murmured: "Nat seems really shaken. And Sonya wasnt even affected."

"Well is a very powerful woman. You doubted her?" Laura asked.

"I shouldn't have doubted her, but I'm glad she wasn't affected or I wouldn't have had anyone to help get them all out."

Clint sighed, and he answered softly: "Ultron has these allies, these uh, kids, they're punks really." He sighed again.

Laura smiled a little, but it dropped quickly, and Clint continued: "They carry a big damn stick, and Nat took a serious hit."

Laura's face was long, and Clint finished firmly: "Someone's gonna have to teach 'em some manners."

He walked out of the closet, and Laura asked as she followed him: "And that someone being you?"

Clint didn't answer- he didn't have to. As he walked across the room, Laura continued gently: "You know I totally support your Avenging, I couldn't be prouder."

Clint settled down into the seat by the window, getting his boots. Laura rested her hands on his shoulders and she said quietly as she stared out the window: "But I see those guys," she looked out at the lawn where Thor had disappeared and where Steve and Tony were now chopping wood in casual attire, "those 'Gods'..."

She trailed off, as though unable to say anything more. Clint supplied shortly: "You don't think they need me."

"I think they do." Laura answered seriously as she looked back down at her husband.

Clint glanced at her in surprise, especially as she added: "Which is a lot scarier."

Her eyes flickered outside briefly and she pointed out quietly: "They're a mess."

Clint sighed, and he also looked out the window.

 **"** Yeah." He murmured softly. "I guess they're my mess."

Laura ran a hand through his hair both soothingly but also warningly as she murmured: "You need to be sure that this team is really a team and that they have your back."

Clint turned back to her, sensing her worry. They'd had a similar discussion when DELTA had first been formed, and it had taken a while before Laura had been able to sleep at least somewhat peacefully whenever he disappeared with Nat and Sonya. Now, he could see the concern lining her face once again, and Clint stood up quickly, wanting to comfort her and assure her things would be alright. Just like he had all those years ago.

Laura murmured as Clint stood before her: "Things are changing for us. In a few weeks' time," she nodded down at her bulging stomach, "you and me are gonna be outnumbered."

Clint smiled a little, trying to ease her anxiety. Laura continued: "I need..."

She cut herself off, staring up at Clint sadly. His eyes dimmed as she swallowed a sigh and Laura finally whispered, the silent plea still hanging between them: "Just be sure."

 **"** Yes, ma'am." Clint murmured as he stared down at her. He kissed her softly before he hugged her with one arm, placing a kiss on her head as well. The pair turned to look out the window together, Laura running her hand back up to Clint's healed wound.

"I can feel the difference." She whispered.

Tony whacked another log, splitting it down the middle. Steve was tossing his log pieces onto a large pile as Tony asked: "Thor didn't say where he was going for answers?"

"Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things." Steve answered as he walked back to his axe, glancing at where Clint was out on his porch with his two kids.

Steve turned back to chopping a log as he added dryly: "I was kind of hoping Thor would be the exception."

"Yeah, give him time." Tony answered as he set up his next log. "We don't know what the Maximoff kid showed him."

Tony glanced back at the aggravated Captain as Steve said sarcastically: "'Earth's Mightiest Heroes.' Pulled us apart like cotton candy."

Steve grabbed another log, and Tony pointed out a little bitterly: "Seems like you walked away alright."

Steve paused as he heard the almost accusing tone in the other man's tone, and he glanced over at Tony. "Is that a problem?" Steve asked as he raised a brow.

"I don't trust a guy without a dark side." Tony quipped. He whacked his axe down on his log at last, before he added a little sarcastically: "Call me old fashioned."

"Well let's just say you haven't seen it yet." Steve shot back, somewhat annoyed.

He paused in his swing as Tony pointed out: "You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart, right?"

Steve's eyes narrowed as he spat: "Well I guess you'd know."

His eyes flickered over to Sonya, and Tony felt a well of guilt sit in his stomach as he saw Steve's look, seeing how his words might've hit a nerve with Steve at the current moment. Steve added pointedly: "Whether you tell us is a bit of a question."

He smacked his axe down on the log as Tony bristled, arguing: "Banner and I were doing research."

"That would affect the team." Steve bit out, and Tony shot back sharply: "That would end the team."

Tony stepped up to Steve, staring at the super-soldier defiantly as he demanded: "Isn't that the mission?"

Steve walked over to grab another log, but then Tony continued: "Isn't that the 'why' we fight, so we can end the fight, so we get to go home?"

That hit another nerve and Steve ripped the log in half with his bare hands angrily. He tossed the pieces to the side as he whirled around to face Tony, and he said with forced calm: "Every time someone tries to win a war before it starts, innocent people die. Every time."

Tony clenched his jaw, but their standoff was interrupted as Laura walked over, calling: "I'm sorry. Mr. Stark, uh," Tony and Steve broke eye contact as Laura said sheepishly, "Clint said you wouldn't mind, but, our tractor, it doesn't seem to want to start at all. I thought maybe you might..."

"Yeah, I'll give her a kick." Tony said quickly.

He turned back to look at Steve, who leaned back with his hands on his hips. Tony sighed a little and then began to walk off towards the barn, pausing to add as he pointed to his much smaller pile of chopped wood: "Don't take from my pile."

Steve sighed as well as Tony walked off, and then glanced at Laura as the woman stood watching him curiously.

Sonya walked up to Steve, "How are you going?" she asked.

Steve grabbed another log and put it in position, "I dont know yet." he said and split the wood log and put the axe down, "Did she try with you? To get in your head"

Sonya smiled, "Of course she did, but I have years on her so she barely scraped the walls I built up to keep those like myself out of my head, I don't think she realized that. When she did, she called out to her brother"

"Ah ok," Steve replied, "Well i'm glad she couldn't."

Sonya sighed, "Me too. Who know's what she would have made me see. Alot happens in 70 years." she paused, looking at Steve trying to get a read on him without reading his mind, "My goal now is to help all of you get back to where you were, hopefully without using my powers"

Steve nodded and they spent a good while talking outside.

* * *

Night had fallen by the time the team, minus Thor, converged once more. Steve and Bruce were surprised when Tony returned from the barn with Fury, and Steve was slightly put out when he saw the unsurprised looks on Nat and Sonya's faces.

But he had to grudgingly admit she had a point when she asked rhetorically and a little sarcastically: "What else did you expect from ' _the_ spy'?"

They were all in Clint's dining room while the Barton family were in the lounge, the children playing quietly. Nat sat at the table, Bruce leaning on the wall slightly behind her. Sonya had been surprised to see a new tenderness between the pair, and she watched them with interest and worry.

It seemed they'd made a step forward in their hesitant relationship, but she wasn't sure it was in a healthy direction. Clint was with his wife, helping her out as she watched their kids, while Tony was playing with the darts by the kitchen doorway.

Steve was leaning on the dining room doorway, with his sister next to him as they listened to Fury say, while he got himself a glass of water: "Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time."

Fury continued, "My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing."

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve questioned, as Fury answered with a shrug.

"Ah. He's easy to track, he's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans though."

Clint joined them in the kitchen as Laura took the kids upstairs to bed, and Tony asked as he threw a dart: "He still going after launch codes?"

"Yes, he is," Fury answered lightly before he added seriously, "but he's not making any headway."

Tony pointed out flatly: "I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare, and Sonya manipulated highly classified CIA files."

Steve glanced down at Sonya, both amused and impressed, while she smiled and said to Tony in a sickly sweet tone: "Aw, Tony. I didn't think you'd still remembered our crimes."

"Not crimes if you're not caught." Tony countered.

"Except she was caught." Nat pointed out, and Tony shrugged.

"Ah well, we can't all be the best, can we?" He asked lightly, making them all snort.

Fury cut in at last, looking at Tony pointedly: "Anyway. I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that."

"NEXUS?" Steve asked, not recognizing the term.

Tony moved to remove his darts from the board, none of them having hit the centre, Bruce explained: "It's the world internet hub in Oslo, every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on earth."

"So what'd they say?" Clint interjected impatiently, examining a small butter knife as he began doing the dishes, and Fury replied: "He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed."

Sonya frowned in confusion, mirroring Tony's expression as the man asked in surprise: "By whom?"

He blinked and Sonya laughed once as two darts suddenly flew past Tony's face and landed dead in the centre of the dart target board. Tony turned to send an annoyed glare at Clint, who shrugged teasingly from his spot at the sink.

Fury glanced at the pair sternly, like a parent scolding his children, while he answered Tony's question: "Parties unknown."

"Do we have an ally?" Nat asked in surprise.

"Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing." Fury corrected.

Tony perked up, coming into the kitchen to listen more intently as Fury sighed: "Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

"I might need to visit Oslo, find our 'unknown'." Tony commented, and Sonya nodded.

Nat huffed a little and she said to Fury pointedly: "Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that."

"I do," he answered firmly, "I have you."

He gestured at the team, raising a few eyebrows. Fury continued: "Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream of."

Sonya's lips had pursed while Nat rolled her eyes slightly. Steve rested his chin on Sonya's head, silently reassuring her and making her relax instantly, as Fury went on, walking to stand in the middle of the kitchen: "Here we all are, back on earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world."

Fury looked at each of them in the eye, saying firmly even as Bruce avoided eye contact: "Ultron says the Avengers," he looked at Steve and then Sonya, "are the only thing between him and his mission."

He looked at Tony who pursed his lips thoughtfully. Fury turned to look at Clint as he went on: "And whether or not he admits it, his mission," he looked at Nat, "is global destruction."

Nat's jaw tightened a little as her expression turned thoughtful, and Fury continued: "All this," he gestured at the house, "laid in a grave."

Clint's face had also turned pensive, and he glanced at Sonya as he felt her gaze on him. She was looking grim with determination, and Clint gave a short nod while Fury finished firmly: "So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard."

Fury sat down in an empty chair at the dining table, while Nat said slyly: "Steve doesn't like that kind of talk."

 **"** You know what, Romanoff?" Steve threatened playfully while Sonya laughed a little, and Nat smiled mischievously.

Fury almost rolled his eye as even Steve adopted the occasional playful tone of the team, before he brought them back to the issue at hand.

"So what does he want?" Fury asked the room at large.

The atmosphere became tense once more as Steve said slowly: "To become better. Better than us."

He nodded at the team. Sonya glanced up at him as he continued: "He keeps building bodies."

"Humanoid bodies." Sonya pointed out.

Steve nodded, while Tony continued Sonya's off comment: "The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

Bruce had wandered over, and he seemed to be captivated by something on the dining table. Sonya watched him, her curiosity further peaked when Bruce touched the drawing Clint's daughter had given Nat.

Nat didn't notice his preoccupation as she quipped at him and Tony: "When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed."

"'They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve'." Bruce quoted suddenly.

The team all turned to him seriously, and Sonya and Steve walked over to the table as well. Sonya peered down at what Bruce was looking at and saw it was a picture of a butterfly.

"Ultron's going to evolve." She realized, her face draining of colour.

Bruce nodded while Tony's face also went white. Steve glanced at them concernedly, while Fury demanded: "How?"

Bruce looked up at them and asked worriedly: "Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

The whole team was back in their battle gear, and Steve said to Tony firmly as he placed his shield on his back: "I'll take Sonya, Natasha and Clint."

"Alright, strictly recon." Tony agreed. "I'll hit the NEXUS, I'll join you as soon as I can."

"If Ultron is really building a body..." Steve began slowly, and Tony glanced at him.

The pair stopped by the doors to leading out of the living room and he said to Steve seriously: "He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot."

Steve nodded, and he added somewhat sarcastically: "You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me."

"Speak for yourself Steve."

"Bet you don't miss it enough to give up seeing your sister again to go back to it though." Tony quipped, making Steve grin lightly.

It faded, becoming grim once more as Fury walked over, saying as he shrugged on his coat: "I'll drop Banner off at the tower."

He turned his eye to Tony pointedly as he asked: "Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"

"She's all yours, apparently." Tony shot back.

Fury looked faintly amused, especially when Tony tacked on curiously: "What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know." Fury answered before he looked between the pair with a hint of a smile. "Something dramatic, I hope."

He walked out, leaving Tony to roll his eyes good-naturedly and Steve grinned. His smile widened although a hint of worry also entered his expression as Sonya walked down the steps to join them, dressed in her full black, agent bodysuit. She was strapping in her last knife and a pistol to her thigh holster as she stopped beside Steve, and Tony rolled his eyes.

At the back entrance, another couple were having a quiet moment, and Clint murmured to Laura as he strapped on the last of his gear: "I'm gonna finish re-flooring that sunroom as soon as I get back."

"Yeah," Laura challenged, "and then you'll find another part of the house to tear apart."

"No." Clint answered firmly. "It's the last project. I promise." He told her quietly, making Laura smile at his analogy.

But her face was still lined with worry, and as Clint leaned down to kiss her, she lifted her hands to cup his face gently, caressing him one last time.

Sonya and Nat also said their quiet goodbyes to Laura, wishing her the best of luck with her newborn as it was unlikely they would come by again before he was born. And Laura watched sadly from her porch as the quinjet took off, taking her two friends and her husband into danger once more.

* * *

Clint dropped Steve off onto a roof just off of Helen's U-Gin Genetic Research Lab roof, and Sonya watched anxiously as the super-soldier jumped up and pulled himself onto the highest balcony. Clint took off again, flying away as Steve called over the comms: "Two minutes. Stay close."

Steve made his way quickly over to the lab, dashing inside a little too easily. His senses heightened, as did his worry when he ran into the largest lab to find several of the attendants lying dead, killed by Iron Legion laser blasts. He hurried into the inner lab, seeing a large gaping hole in the wall where Ultron most likely either left or entered.

His attention was diverted as he spotted a familiar figure lying on the ground on the side of the lab, and Steve called urgently: "Dr. Cho!"

He hurried over to the wounded woman, her blood seeping all over her blue uniform. She was breathing heavily as he knelt beside her, and Steve quickly grabbed a clean towel, pressing it to her wound.

Helen opened her eyes, and seeing who it was said to Steve urgently instead: "He's uploading himself into the body."

"Where?" Steve demanded immediately, and Helen shook her head, not knowing.

Steve turned to look towards the wall, when Helen tugged on his hand, demanding his attention again. Steve glanced back at her and she warned: "The real power is inside the cradle. The gem, its power is uncontainable."

She heaved, struggling to keep talking, and she told him: "You can't just blow it up. You have to get the cradle to Stark."

"First I have to find it." Steve answered grimly, and she nodded, letting go of his hand as she urged: "Go."

Inside the quinjet, DELTA team had tensed, and Clint was already flying above the city of Seoul as Steve called over the comms: "Did you guys copy that?"

"We did." Clint answered as he piloted the quinjet. He and Sonya were scanning the city while Nat was searching on one of the jet's computers.

"I got a private jet taking off," she called, "across town, no manifest. That could be him."

Sonya's eyes narrowed as she spotted a truck with U-Gin Genetics colors. She nudged Clint, murmuring: "There."

He glanced down at where she was looking, and his sharper eyes quickly picked up on the logo on the truck. He agreed with Sonya, calling out in confirmation: "It's the truck from the lab."

Nat looked over quickly, while Clint instructed Steve: "Right above you, Cap. On the loop by the bridge."

Sonya had run a scan on the truck, and she added shortly: "It's them. There are three with the cradle, one in the cab."

"I could take out the driver." Clint added as he switched on the quinjet's target lock, when Steve called back sharply: "Negative!"

They all paused, frowning slightly. Steve continued as he climbed quickly up the steps towards the highway bridge: "If that truck crashes, the gem could level the city. We need to draw out Ultron."

"Steve, what are you doing?" Sonya asked suspiciously as they watched the truck drive down the loop, unable to see Steve, and he answered: "Nothing you're going to like, sis"

Her mouth dropped open as she and Clint saw him at that moment, just as he dashed across the top loop of the highway, jumping off the edge and landing on the truck just as it passed beneath him. Sonya's hands clutched the back of Clint's headrest, her knuckles going white as Steve rolled across the top before he settled himself on the truck.

Steve quickly made his way down the top of the truck, heading for the back door. He'd just swung himself down to hang from the back and was about to open the door when Ultron shouted from inside: "Leave me alone!"

Steve grunted as the door he was clinging to swung open suddenly from the force of the laser blast Ultron had fired at it. The door swung open and right around on its hinges, and Steve groaned as he was whacked against the side of the truck, sandwiched between the door and the truck. He quickly kicked off the side of the truck, swinging the door shut again.

He peeked inside through the crack and quickly leapt up as Ultron blasted both doors right off their hinges this time. The truck ramp clanged as it clattered down, dragging along the highway and Steve grunted again as he landed on the ramp heavily.

He quickly hung on before he could slide off and onto highway, shouting into his comms: "Well, he's definitely unhappy! I'm gonna try and keep him that way."

"You're not a match for him, Cap." Clint replied bluntly as he flew the quinjet overhead, trying to keep the truck in sight while avoiding the tall skyscrapers.

Sonya whacked Clint over the head, despite her silent agreement, while Steve muttered sarcastically: "Thanks, Barton."

Steve slowly made his way up the ramp, trying to maintain his balance as the ramp swung around wildly on its one hinge. He'd just made it back to the doors, when Ultron suddenly appeared in front of him. Before Steve could react, the robot blasted him with an energy bolt.

Steve and the ramp went flying backwards, the ramp smashing into a car behind them while Steve landed heavily on the windshield of the car behind the truck. The windshield cracked severely from the impact, but thankfully held.

Clint meanwhile was pulling a few slick maneuvers, swearing under his breath at the artistic buildings. As he swung the jet between a gap in the middle of twin skyscrapers with a bridge connecting the two near the top of the buildings, Sonya finally scolded him: "It's not the architect's fault, how were they supposed to know we'd need to fly through? Stop complaining, and drive faster."

"Backseat driver." Clint muttered under his breath.

Nat raised a brow at his audacity, while Sonya's eyes narrowed and she threatened sharply: "I'll show you backseat driving, Hawkeye."

"Best not aggravate Sonya when her brother is in danger of being killed by a psychopathic robot." Nat advised.

Clint snorted while Sonya rolled her eyes, although the team were quick to return to their tense positions as they looked for an opening.

Steve meanwhile had jumped from the cracked windshield onto a passing garbage truck. He hung precariously from the side-mirror, before swinging himself up high and landing back on the U-Gin truck. He'd just landed and caught his balance when Ultron flew out of the back and up to face Steve.

"You know what's in that cradle?" He demanded as he lifted his hand.

Steve quickly turned around, using his shield to block the energy blast that Ultron fired at him. Ultron said scathingly: "The power to make real change, and that terrifies you."

"I wouldn't call it a comfort." Steve answered as he threw his shield at Ultron. It hit the giant, humanoid robot in the neck, throwing off Ultron's next laser fire at Steve. Ultron was flung back slightly before he regained himself and he hovered high above.

Steve caught his shield as it ricocheted back to him, before he quickly somersaulted to avoid the next shot Ultron fired at him. As Ultron flew back down onto the truck roof, Steve threw his shield at him again. It hit Ultron in the face, making him reel a little backwards.

Steve kicked his shield back at Ultron as it ricocheted back towards him again, wedging it into Ultron's chest. Unfortunately, it only succeeded in angering Ultron further, and the incensed robot snapped: "Stop it!"

He pulled the shield from his chest, throwing it aside and onto the road before blasting the now defenseless Steve. Steve was flung off the front of the truck, landing on the cab roof. He quickly grabbed the top of the cab as he tumbled over and almost off the truck.

He quickly dodged as the Iron Legion driving the truck punched its fist right through the windshield in an effort to hit him, and Steve quickly continued to move away from the front and to the side of the truck, swinging like a monkey as he hung from the top of the cab.

Inside the quinjet, Nat and Sonya opened a compartments quickly settling themselves in and preparing. Clint called back to them as the two women gripped their handles: "We got a window. Four, three..."

He pressed a button as he lowered the quinjet close to the road and he muttered: "Give 'em hell ladies."

The drop hatch opened, and Nat and Sonya dropped out of the jet and onto the roads on twin motorbikes. Tony had installed them as Steve liked his bikes.

Tony had added the second one for Sonya, just to make fun of her but she now thanked him silently for his joke. It was proving very fruitful as she and Nat sped down the streets, weaving their way quickly through the other cars.

The brunette agent glanced over to see the fallen shield and she sighed.

"Back to this again, picking up after him." She muttered dryly and Nat laughed to herself.

Sonya grinned as she swooped down and grabbed the shield with her right hand. She stuck it onto the magnetized front of the bike before she sped up after Nat once more.

Clint called to them, ignoring their jibes at his and the other Avengers' expense: "They're heading under the overpass, I've got no shot."

 **"** Which way?" Nat asked as she and Sonya continued to weave through the crowded city streets.

"Hard right..." Clint replied. "Now."

Nat and Sonya swerved sharply, causing several cars to stop abruptly and honk after them angrily. They sped up the smaller side street, the narrower roads forcing Sonya to follow Nat as they drove in single file.

They whizzed past several people, who backed out of the way in alarm, and up small alleys before shooting out of a narrow alleyway and back onto the main road. They made it just with perfect timing as the U-Gin truck passed right before them. Both Nat and Sonya slammed the brakes, pulling the bike down sideways.

They skid below the truck, each narrowly avoiding being hit by either the front or back wheels. Nat kept her brakes on, letting Sonya go in front as she skid out from under the truck after her. There was no time to thank her as Sonya glanced up to see Ultron holding Steve over the edge of the truck roof in a chokehold.

He saw her as she sped up beside the truck, and he reached out his right hand just as Sonya threw his shield up to him. Steve caught his shield, and smashed it against Ultron, forcing the robot to let go. Ultron snarled angrily and spotted the two female agents as he landed heavily on the truck roof from the force of Steve's punch.

Ultron fired a shot into the road right before Sonya and Nat. kicking up a large chunk of the road. Sonya swerved in time, following the truck while Nat pulled the bike up sharply from the back, pulling the brakes and forcing the bike into a sharp and sudden stop.

Sonya swerved as the two Iron Legions inside the truck began firing at her and Nat, Sonya swerving to the right as Nat swerved to the right, heading up a pedestrian bridge. Unfortunately, it turned out Nat had made the right call.

Ultron fired at Steve, sending him flying off the truck and crashing onto a car windshield once more. But this time, Ultron pulled up the road right in front of the car Steve had crashed into, forcing it to tip and Sonya's bike to go flying off the ramp the overturned road had created.

She sped sharply, trusting Steve to take care of himself, and landed back safely on the ground and ahead of the crashing cars that skid all over the road right behind her. Steve had jumped off of the car he'd crashed into, avoiding the oncoming cars and leaping onto the bottom of another overturned car as it skid passed.

He then used his leverage to jump back onto the U-Gin truck roof, engaging Ultron once more. Sonya sped after the truck as Nat called sharply: "Clint, can you draw out the guards?"

"Let's find out." Clint answered as he flew in. Sonya added: "You'll have a clean shot, Ultron just caused a pileup so we have no tails."

"Roger that." Clint answered. Sonya swerved out, onto the other side of the road, clearing the path for Clint just as they made it passed a large skyscraper to reveal Clint hovering behind.

Clint fired several shots at Ultron as Steve ducked, angering the robot. The Iron Legions flew out to take out the new threat, and Clint quickly flew off, taking the robot guards with him. Sonya sped up, getting back onto the right side of the road and pulling slowly back up behind the truck.

She hesitated, needing to get Ultron's attention fully removed before she could get inside the truck. Her wish was immediately granted as Steve threw Ultron, making him crash into one of the stone pillars supporting the highway looping above them.

Incensed, Ultron fired at Sonya, causing her to swerve dangerously around while he flew back, tackling Steve, and sending them both off the truck and crashing into the train. People screamed as Steve wrestled with Ultron, trying to contain the fight away from the civilians.

Clint suddenly called urgently: "They're heading back towards you. So whatever you're going to do, do it now."

Sonya pulled back behind the truck, answering through grit teeth: "Roger that."

She waited, timing it before she jumped off the bike and into the truck. She grunted as she skid through, landing at the back of the truck and beside the head of the cradle. Inside, a humanoid body rattled slightly, both fascinating and revolting her.

Inside the train, people were screaming as they recoiled away from the intense fight, and Steve somersaulted once more to avoid being hit as Ultron flew at him once more. Ultron missed tackling Steve, flying past, and he turned back around in fury.

"I'm in." Sonya called over the comms just as Ultron blasted Steve, knocking him off his feet. Nat was speeding up behind the truck, having finally caught up, and she called: "I'm also going in. Cap, can you keep him occupied?"

"What do you think I've been doing?" Steve groaned irritably before he picked himself up and jumped back into the fight.

Nat jumped into the truck the same way as Sonya, and the brunette agent glanced up as the Russian straightened up.

"Nice of you to join me." Sonya said dryly. Nat moved to quickly help Sonya as the younger woman continued to try and disable the upload mechanism, but they both paused as they felt the truck lift ominously off the ground.

They exchanged glances before Nat gasped as she tumbled out the front of the truck as it was lifted while Sonya was flung backwards with the cradle. She quickly moved, narrowly avoiding being squashed by the cradle as Nat grabbed the straps holding the cradle securely in place, using them to pull herself back up beside the cradle and Sonya.

Sonya used her powers to hold themselves and the cradle there.

"The package is airborne." Clint called as he spotted the truck and he followed it. "I have a clean shot."

"Negative." Nat and Sonya called back sharply. Nat continued: "We are still in the truck."

"What the hell are you...?" Clint began incredulously, but Nat ordered: "Just be ready, we're sending the package to you."

Sonya tossed Nat one of her knives as she started sewing the straps on her own side of the cradle.

"How do you want me to take it?" Clint asked as he flexed his shoulders in preparation, and both women paused slightly in their words even if they didn't in their actions.

Sonya answered at last: "Uhh, you might wish you hadn't asked that."

* * *

Steve was fighting a desperately losing battle. He was almost at the end of his tether as Ultron backed him into a corner, and it was taking all Steve had to keep his shield lifted to block Ultron's ceaseless punches. He grunted as Ultron finally found an opening and landed a solid punch to Steve's stomach.

 _This is not good._ He thought, when suddenly, Ultron was flung aside. Steve was also knocked off his feet slightly as a strong gust of wind flew past, and he looked over in surprise to see Pietro Maximoff as the speedster skid to a stop at the end of the train compartment.

Ultron turned, making to stalk towards the white-haired Sokovian, when suddenly the metal bars around the train moved, melding to form a barrier before him. Ultron and Steve turned in surprise to see Wanda on the other side of the train, manipulating the metal with her powers.

"Please." Ultron sighed. "Don't do this."

"What choice do we have?" Wanda growled back, her blue eyes steely and angry. Ultron turned back towards Pietro, and the young man quickly dodged but Ultron had no intention to hit him anyway. Ultron fired right through the walls blasting a shot right through the front of the train.

Steve stared in horror as Ultron flew out the open train door, and he yelled as he dashed quickly towards the front of the train: "I lost him!"

He jumped over various pieces of debris as he shouted urgently to his team: "He's headed your way."

Steve skid to a stop as he reached the front of the train, checking the collapsed driver but it was too late. His face was grim and then it became horrified as he looked up and saw they had reached the end of the tracks. They were going to crash right through and into civilian walkways. Steve lifted his shield, bracing it for the impact as the train smashed through the barriers marking the end of the track lines.

Clint called anxiously from where he was waiting in the quinjet: "Nat, Son, we gotta go."

He was flying backwards, keeping a safe distance behind the truck as he hovered with the backdoors opened and ready.

"Yeah, almost." Sonya answered as Nat nodded at her. Sonya moved to the front of the cradle, getting ready to swing on. Nat cut the last strap and placed a timed bomb on the back of the truck. Sonya swung up onto the front of the cradle as Nat jumped onto the back, both of them hanging on tight as they went into free fall through the air, the wind whipping through their hair.

Sonya grunted a little as the front of the cradle landed with a thud before they skid into the quinjet. But as they slid in, Sonya's eyes widened in horror. Ultron had appeared out of nowhere, and he grabbed Nat by the foot, dragging her out and away just as the truck exploded behind them.

"Nat!" Sonya screamed, and Clint called back sharply: "Sonya?"

"Son?" Steve yelled, distracted from his place in the front of the train at the sheer worry in Clint's tone.

Clint demanded as he glanced back at Ria anxiously: "Cap, you see Nat?"

"If you have the package, get it to Stark! Go!" Steve ordered, although his heart was pounding and it suddenly had nothing to do with the fact that the train he was on had just crashed through the barriers at the end of the track. He prayed to God that Sonya was all right.

"Ultron's got Nat." Sonya argued, and Steve almost sighed in relief, although the news Sonya brought made his fist clench even tighter.

Clint's eyes were flinty and he began: "I might be able to track-"

"Go!" Steve repeated his order.

Both Sonya and Clint's jaws locked, but they knew what had to be done. Sonya's hands tightened on Clint's headrest as he flew them off quickly back towards New York. Clint growled in frustration as he hit the turbo engines, and Sonya was breathing heavily as both their hearts weighed heavily with worry.

Meanwhile in the train, Steve ran back to the Maximoff twins as they stood uncertainly in the middle of the train. He ordered Pietro: "Civilians in our path."

The speedster took the hint and he was gone in a flash of silver. Steve turned to Wanda, and he demanded: "Can you stop this thing?"

The young woman stared at him, her face filled with uncertainty, but Steve didn't have time for her indecision. He ran back towards the front to check their progress, shielding civilians as bits of debris came flying in from the open front and the shattered windows and doors from his fight with Ultron.

Steve reached the front to see streaks of silver moving civilians out of the way. He breathed in relief for a moment that at least one of the twins moved quickly and confidently, but his lifted spirits were dashed as he saw where they were headed.

Steve quickly lifted his shield, once again bracing for impact as the train went smashing through a warehouse, barreling through the wall on the other side.

Steve then lurched slightly as he felt the train start to skid to a stop. He glanced back to see Wanda far behind, her face contorted with exertion as she halted the wheels of the train. Pietro was dashing about before him, clearing all the civilians.

All in all, when the train finally came to a complete stop, all Steve could manage was to sag in mental and physical exhaustion. But his respite was brief and he quickly walked out. Thankfully, nearby civilians and volunteers from the train itself were helping everyone climb out of the train safely.

Steve turned his attention instead to the two Sokovians as they huddled on one side of the road. Wanda had her hands on her twin's back, looking at him anxiously as Pietro bent over, gasping slightly. Pietro reassured his sister wearily: "I'm fine. I just need to take a minute."

He sat down heavily and Steve snapped as he walked up to them: "I'm very tempted not to give you one."

Pietro didn't even glare back, while Wanda demanded anxiously: "The cradle, did you get it?"

"Stark will take care of it." Steve answered firmly.

He was surprised when Wanda's face changed, and she stared at him with something akin to horror. She shook her head slightly as she whispered: "No, he won't."

Pietro frowned, glancing between his sister and Steve as he caught his breath. Steve examined the young woman before he said finally: "You don't know what you're talking about, Stark's not crazy."

"He will do anything to make things right." Wanda countered, her brow furrowing slightly in worry.

Steve stared at her, measuring the sincerity in her tone and the niggle of doubt that her words caused. While he didn't want to believe it, it did sound like something Tony would do.

Steve turned away sharply, calling to check: "Stark, come in."

There was no response and Steve repeated. "Stark."

He paused and Wanda's face had become terrified. Steve called again, refusing to believe anything with certainty yet: "Son? Anyone on comms?" He asked at last, feeling somewhat anxious as the radio silence continued.

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it." Wanda said flatly.

Steve paused and he glanced back at her as she asked pointedly: "Where do you think he gets that?"

Another chapter down.

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	8. Chapter 8

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Sonya and Clint sat huddled slightly on top of the cradle in Tony's lab at the Avengers Tower. The pair hadn't left each other's side, as was to be expected. Clint held one of Sonya's hands, rubbing it comfortingly, knowing she was beating herself up for letting Nat be captured.

As Tony returned from his trip to NEXUS very late at night, Bruce asked him quietly: "Anything on Nat?"

"Haven't heard." Tony replied with sigh.

He glanced at Sonya worriedly and he added in an attempt at encouragement: "But she's alive, or Ultron would be rubbing our faces in it."

Clint exhaled sharply before he hopped off the cradle, letting go of Sonya's hand. She jumped down beside him as he commented to the two scientists as the men walked in: "This is sealed tight."

"We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within." Bruce sighed as he tapped at the unresponsive control panels.

Tony hummed, before he turned to Clint and asked abruptly: "Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?"

"There's some nets I can cast." Clint agreed.

Sonya nodded, glancing at Clint, before she confirmed: "Yeah, we're on it."

"We'll find her." Clint agreed as he and Sonya moved off downstairs, heading for the lower labs.

As they walked, Clint glanced at Sonya and then wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"We _will_ find her, Son. Stop being so hard on yourself."

"Don't act like you aren't beating yourself up too." Sonya countered.

Clint sighed, knowing he had no words for that. It was true, and probably for the rest of their lives. None of them could really handle another's injury or suffering.

"She wouldn't want us to." Clint murmured as he and Sonya set up the necessary equipment to scan for Nat.

"Won't stop either of us from worrying until she's back with us, so just let it be and let's get to work." Sonya returned.

With that they got down to business. Unaware of the potential danger that Tony and Bruce were brewing once more right above their heads.

* * *

They'd been searching for a few hours when Clint finally got a hit. Sonya shot up, sitting upright as the radio crackled and a message in Morse code came across the airwaves. Clint grinned and he quickly pulled the headset over to start taking down Nat's message while Sonya beamed and she headed quickly upstairs to let Tony and Bruce know.

Her smile dropped instantly as she walked into the lab and saw what they were doing. Neither man had noticed her yet as Tony told Bruce: "This framework is not compatible."

Sonya's jaw dropped as Bruce just shrugged before he ordered: "The genetic coding tower's at ninety-seven percent. You have got to upload that schematic in the next five minutes."

"What the hell is going on here? Tony?" She demanded.

The two looked over at her quickly, looking like two children caught by their mother with their hands still in the cookie jar.

"Aunt Son!" Tony said quickly. "Hey, what's up? Found Natasha?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Stark." Sonya said sharply as she folded her arms across her chest.

Tony sighed and Sonya glared between him and Bruce as she demanded once more: "What's going on?"

"Why don't you stop playing dumb with us, Son, and then we can talk." Tony countered.

Bruce winced, looking a little sheepish, while Sonya's eyes narrowed. She said in a low, eerily controlled voice: "I just don't believe that after Nat's sacrifice to get that cradle, you would try to create Ultron. Again."

She hurled her last words mostly at Bruce. The man shifted uncomfortably as Sonya's face took on the cold agent mask that they hadn't seen in awhile. They hadn't had to. Sonya waited with narrowed eyes as Tony and Bruce exchanged looks, clearly trying to think of something.

"Aunt, come on, don't tell me you don't think it's right?" Tony asked at last, and her eyes narrowed.

She answered rather flatly: "No, actually I don't. Your murderbot injured or killed god knows how many people, placed thousands more in harm's way, is planning to destroy the world, and kidnapped my one of my best friends."

Tony paused, and he tried: "Okay, point taken. But that's why this is right. _This_ ," he indicated the system and the cradle, "is going to work and it'll set right the things I've done wrong."

"Or you'll create Ultron 2.0 with an almost indestructible body and incredible power." Sonya snapped as she indicated the gemstone placed on the body inside the cradle's forehead.

Bruce was hesitating, clearly deliberating while Tony's jaw set. A computer beeped, and Bruce glanced at it and he sighed.

"Look, guys," He told them urgently, "we need to decide soon. That schematic has to be uploaded in the next three minutes."

Sonya's eyes narrowed, when suddenly someone placed a literal firm foot down from the side door, saying sternly: "I'm gonna say this once."

Sonya felt a small amount of tension ease as she heard Steve's voice but it disappeared when she turned to face him.

"How about 'nonce'?" Tony quipped.

Bruce and Sonya had frozen slightly, staring at the two figures beside Steve. In particular, both began glowering angrily at Wanda Maximoff as she stood beside her brother, watching anxiously while Steve ordered Tony sharply: "Shut it down."

"Nope, not gonna happen." Tony tossed back casually, but there was a hostile undercurrent to his tone and his posture had stiffened.

"You don't know what you're doing." Steve said emphatically, his body just as stiff as Tony's.

"And you do?" Bruce asked coldly. He nodded at Wanda as he asked scathingly: "She's not in your head?"

"I know you're angry." Wanda began as she stepped forward.

"If you know what's best for you, you won't take another step." Sonya said sharply. She was already tightly wound with her anger at Tony, and Wanda's appearance had only added fuel to the fire.

Steve and Wanda glanced over, the former startled to see Sonya's powers curling around her closed fist. Although, when he really thought about it, he really shouldn't have been surprised.

Sonya was usually so easy-going, Steve often forgot that she was still one of the world's most experience and best agents and that wasn't a title earned with mercy. It was at times like this that he was reminded of that.

Her eyes were cold, and locked furiously on Wanda, while the Sokovian looked at the older woman beseechingly. Bruce added with a deadly calm tone: "We're way past anger. I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade."

Wanda closed her mouth, pursing her lips as she glanced between the two beyond-furious Avengers.

Steve interjected: "Sonya, Banner, after everything that's happened-"

"That's nothing compared to what's coming!" Tony interrupted as he turned to glare at Steve.

"You don't know what's in there!" Wanda snapped and Sonya's jaw tightened in anger.

Steve was saying at the same time, exasperated: "This isn't a game…"

Suddenly they were all cut off as a flash of silver dashed around the lab, leaving a wake of destruction. They all stared in shock, and in Tony and Bruce's case anger, as Pietro stopped between Bruce and Sonya, tossing down a pipe he'd pulled from the cradle.

"No, no. Go on." He said sarcastically. "You were saying?"

Sonya's eyes narrowed furiously, but she was gratified as she heard a gunshot from below. She smirked in satisfaction as she saw a look of surprise cross Pietro's face as a bullet went past his face, before he fell with a crash through the shattered glass and down onto the lower lab floor.

"Pietro!" Wanda cried in alarm, while Sonya looked down casually at Pietro, satisfied to see Clint walk over and place a foot heavily on Pietro's leg.

"What?" Clint asked sarcastically. "You didn't see that coming?"

The computers were beeping wildly, and Tony called to Bruce: "I'm re-routing the upload."

"Tony-!" Sonya began in exasperation, but she was cut off from saying anything else as Steve threw his shield angrily.

It crashed about, causing even more destruction although it didn't even put a dent in the cradle and Sonya scolded, angry at his resort to force: "Steve!"

Steve ignored her as Tony's eyes narrowed. As the shield came flying towards his computer, Tony remotely called the arm to his Iron Man suit. It attached itself just in time and he hit the shield down and away before it could hit the computer, before he aimed and fired a shot at Steve. The blast sent Steve flying backwards, and Sonya yelled in outrage: "Tony!"

"He started it!" Tony yelled and Sonya threw her knife at his precious computer, ironically shouting back furiously: "I don't care!"

Tony's eyes narrowed angrily, and he called the rest of his suit as he deflected Sonya's knife.

Wanda started to use her power, when Bruce grabbed her from behind, locking his arm around her neck in a choke hold and he dared: "Go ahead, piss me off."

Wanda froze, not daring to move, while Steve leapt to his feet, ticked off with Tony. Clint had come running up, his gun cocked but he paused beside Sonya as she clenched her fists in frustration while Steve jumped at Tony. Steve threw a punch at the same time Tony blasted him again, sending both men flying across the room and crashing to the ground.

Suddenly there was a grunt from the side and Sonya narrowed her eyes as Wanda used her powers to break free from Bruce, holding him so that he was unable to move before she blasted him back. Sonya quickly spun up, kicking the other girl square in the back and sending the untrained Wanda flying across the room.

There was a crash, and they all paused, turning to see as Thor came flying in. He landed and glanced around before leaping up onto the cradle with his hammer raised. The team all watched in shock and Bruce yelled: "Wait!"

But Thor called his lightning, the energy becoming so powerful the rest of the group had to shield their eyes from the bright light surrounding Thor, before the God slammed his hammer towards the cradle, sending the energy into the cradle.

They all watched in shock and varying degrees of horror or awe as Thor send all of the energy into the cradle. He finally pulled his hammer back, the energy spent. They all blinked, staring in disbelief while Thor waited expectantly.

There was an almighty crash as the cradle essentially exploded, sending everyone flying back. Steve threw himself to cover Sonya, curling around her and shielding her as bits of debris and shattered glass flew everywhere. She glared at him, still furious at him for bringing Wanda.

Steve pulled back to check her quickly, she smacked him off in aggravation and irritation. He frowned but she had turned to look at the cradle and she'd frozen. He looked over and blinked. A humanoid figure was crouching on the edge of the cradle it had sprung from, its skin red with streaks of dark blue.

The figure then seemed to focus on Thor, who had stood up right before it, and Sonya tensed as it sprang at incredible speed at the God. Thor caught the figure and threw him over his shoulder, sending the android crashing through the lab windows and towards the outer, lounge-area balcony windows.

They all hurried out into the lounge, Thor flying out, Sonya using her powers to follow and Steve jumping after them. The others quickly followed, Sonya surprised at the lack of sound from said area, only to find the android had brought itself to a stop right by the windows. Thor held up a hand to stop the team, and they all paused, watching the android warily.

It was staring outside as though in awe at the city lights, a hand pressing against the window slightly. The figure then turned around to face them and he flew back towards them slowly as his skin darkened and became thicker around the body, arms and legs, almost like he was wearing a suit.

"I'm sorry," he murmured and Sonya frowned at the familiar British tone, "that was...odd."

He turned to Thor to add sincerely: "Thank you."

Thor just nodded, placing his hammer down on the coffee table. Sonya eyed them warily as the android nodded before a fluttering gold cape appeared across his shoulders and draped behind him.

"Thor, you helped create this?" Steve asked incredulously.

"I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at it's center is that." Thor answered and pointed at the bright yellow jewel placed in the centre of the android's head.

"What, the gem?" Bruce asked for all of them as they all slowly made their way closer.

"It's the Mind Stone." Thor explained. "It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

"Then why would you bring it to-" Steve began severely as Sonya arrived beside him.

Thor cut him off: "Because Stark is right."

Sonya stared while Clint's mouth actually fell open, and Bruce muttered: "Oh, it's definitely the end times."

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron." Thor went on, looking at Steve and ignoring the rest of the team's reactions.

Steve exhaled sharply, clearly not happy, and Sonya touched his arm in silent reassurance and warning. They all refocused on the android as he took a step forward and said quietly: "Not alone."

"Why does your 'vision' sound like Jarvis?" Steve asked, placing himself before Sonya as the Vision continued to walk closer towards the group.

Tony explained, his wary eyes also never leaving Vision: "We...we reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new."

He moved to examine Vision closer, just as Vision seemed to be analyzing Tony. Steve muttered pointedly: "I think I've had my fill of new."

Sonya's hand tightened on his warningly, while Vision turned to face Steve, asking seriously: "You think I'm a child of Ultron?"

"You're not?" Steve challenged.

Sonya was examining the android in a mix of caution and curiosity, and Vision's eyes flickered to her. Steve tensed, but Vision seemed to be watching her more curiously, as he said thoughtfully: "I'm not Ultron. I'm not Jarvis. I am..."

He trailed off uncertainly. Sonya felt more sympathy more the android as he turned his head, looking lost as he murmured: "I am..."

He looked at Tony and Bruce sadly, as though searching for answers, when Wanda cut in, saying to Vision almost accusingly: "I looked in your head and saw annihilation."

"Look again." Vision replied gently, but Sonya pursed her lips in silent agreement with Clint as the archer snorted and said scathingly: "Yeah. Her seal of approval means jack to me."

Sonya used her powers to look in Vision's mind, "Wait, he is right." she said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

He moved to place himself beside Sonya, while Thor countered: "Their powers, the horrors in our heads, Ultron himself, they all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash."

He looked around at the circle the team had formed during their discussions, and he said firmly: "But with it on our side-"

"Is it?" Steve cut in sharply.

Thor glanced at the super-soldier but Steve had turned his attention back to Vision as he asked, "Are you? On our side?"

They all turned to look at Vision intently, but the android frowned slightly at the question. He murmured softly: "I don't think it's that simple."

"Well it better get real simple real soon." Clint warned tightly.

Vision glanced at Clint, then Sonya, then Steve, before he answered: "I am on the side of life."

He looked at each of the other Avengers as he went on: "Ultron isn't, he will end it all."

He finished, looking at the Maximoff twins.

"What's he waiting for?" Tony asked, and Vision glanced at him.

"You." He answered as though it were obvious.

Bruce asked quietly: "Where?"

"Sokovia." Clint answered, surprising the others.

The Maximoffs frowned, looking more anxious, but Clint didn't care, focusing on Sonya as he added: "He's got Nat there too."

She pursed her lips and he answered her with a grim expression. Steve glanced at the pair in sympathy, but refocused on Vision as Bruce approached the android and warned: "If we're wrong about you, if you're the monster that Ultron made you to be..."

He trailed off pointedly, and Vision questioned curiously: "What will you do?"

There was a tense silence as Steve's jaw locked, the two agents tensed slightly and Bruce and Tony straightened their backs just slightly. Vision glanced around, and he realized what they would do, what they would have to do.

He closed his eyes briefly before he admitted: "I don't want to kill Ultron."

He walked slowly over towards Thor as he went on: "He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed."

The team's faces were grim but accepting, if grudgingly by some. Clint gave Sonya a look, which she answered with a slight shake of her head. He glanced at the twins, making Sonya exhale sharply but again shake her head a little unhappily.

Vision was saying: "Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others."

He turned to face Steve seriously, looking at the super-soldier for agreement. Steve lifted his chin slightly, his expression becoming more thoughtful, while Vision looked down at his hands.

"Maybe I am a monster." He admitted. "I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are," he lowered his hands, "and not what you intended."

He turned around, looking down a little as he almost sighed: "So there may be no way to make you trust me."

He picked up the object on the coffee table as he finished firmly: "But we need to go."

He handed Thor his Mjolnir, trying to illustrate the urgency of the situation. Thor looked down at his hammer in disbelief, while the other Avengers' mouths parted slightly in shock. They could only blink as Thor slowly took his hammer, and Vision walked off, unaware of the mental blow he'd dealt.

Thor glanced at the other Avengers, taking in their completely taken-aback expressions. He muttered as he tapped his hammer on his other hand sheepishly: "Right."

He patted Tony's shoulder: "Well done."

Thor also walked out, following Vision. The team stood for another second in shock, before Steve broke the silence. He turned to the team as he informed them: "Three minutes. Get what you need."

* * *

Sonya strapped in as many knives as she could hold, packing some extra cartridges as well for good measure. She'd just strapped in two long-knives into their holsters inside the outer part of her boots when she felt a presence at the doorway.

"Is this going to become a habit, too?" She asked as she closed her locker door and turned to face Steve.

His face was as equally grim as he walked into the locker room, and Sonya leaned back against her locker, folding her arms across her chest and waiting for him to talk first.

"I know you were angry that I brought Wanda." Steve said quietly as he stopped before her. She just watched him measuredly, although he could see the sliver of hurt that had resurfaced at Wanda's entrance.

Steve sat down on the bench in front of her. "It'll be okay, and she said she was sorry." He said.

"I don't want her apology, I want to kick her ass. Oh wait, I did when she tried to get in my head." she muttered back, joking half-heartedly.

He chuckled before he sighed.

"I still don't like her." Sonya muttered and he nodded once.

"And I'm not asking you to." He reminded softly. "I just…" He sighed.

"I just don't want us to be at odds, not now." He finished quietly, and she looked down at him as she heard the worry and anxiety in his tone.

Her hazel eyes were clear and filled with determination once more as she answered firmly: "I know. And I still love you brother, even when we are somewhat fighting."

"Not fighting," he disagreed, "just differing in opinion."

"Or being hot-headed and stubborn." Sonya chuckled.

He frowned and asked: "When were you hot-headed?"

"I wasn't- that's you, and I'm 'stubborn'." She laughed, making him smile a little as he stood up.

"Sorry for overreacting." Sonya said quietly, and he shook his head.

He answered just as quietly: "Sorry for hurting you, even if it was necessary to bring the Maximoffs. And then being 'hot-headed' with Tony."

"It's okay. I was pretty ticked off with him, too." Sonya sighed. "It was why I overreacted."

Steve hugged her.

"Promise me you'll try and stay safe." He murmured as they broke apart, and Sonya nodded.

"I promise. You stay safe too." She said quietly.

* * *

After gearing up, Sonya had gone to Clint while Steve, Tony, and Bruce converged in the lounge. The three were already prepped, Steve not needing to do anything having already been in combat gear and the two scientists not really needing anything. Tony had only stepped out to insert a new AI into his system, and then he was ready.

The Maximoff twins were in the spare locker room, while Thor and Vision were chatting quietly as they stood outside the building. Sonya hugged Clint soothingly as he held onto a photo of Laura and the kids, providing silent support and comfort. He leaned back on her as he exhaled quietly.

In the lounge, Tony murmured softly: "No way we all get through this. If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost. It's gonna be blood on the floor."

Bruce nodded, while Steve bowed his head grimly. Tony glanced at them sympathetically; at least he only had to worry about not returning to Pepper. He didn't have to worry that Pepper might be harmed- or that she wouldn't be there if... _when_ he made it out.

Tony took a deep breath and then said firmly: "I get first crack at the big guy."

The other two men glanced at him, and Tony explained wryly: "Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."

"That's true," Vision commented as he walked passed behind Tony, "he hates you the most."

Tony paused, and then looked after Vision in disbelief. Steve felt his lips twitch in amusement, but his face quickly fell back to being grim and lined with worry as Sonya walked in. She and Clint were talking quietly before they joined the team, Clint stopping beside Bruce while Sonya walked over to Steve.

He held out his hand and she took it, and no-one commented. They all knew each of them needed what small comfort they could get.

The whole team met for a final meeting in the quinjet right before they left for Sokovia.

Clint and Sonya finished prepping the jet as the team took their seats and Steve began seriously: "Ultron knows we're coming. Odds are we'll be riding into heavy fire, and that's what we signed up for."

He looked at each of them as he continued: "But the people of Sokovia, they didn't. So our priority is getting them out."

He looked at the Maximoffs. The plan was for the untrained pair to focus on helping the citizens get out safely first. It would still be no easy task, and Sonya also watched the young pair with concern as Wanda bowed her head while Pietro nodded.

Steve continued as he looked at the team at large: "All they want is to live their lives in peace, and that's not going to happen today. But we can do our best to protect them."

He looked at each member of his team as he said firmly: "And we can get the job done, and find out what Ultron's been building." He looked at Thor, who straightened.

"We find Romanoff," he looked at Bruce, "and we clear the field." He looked at Clint and Sonya, who nodded. "Keep the fight between us." Steve looked at Vision.

Vision bowed his head thoughtfully, while Steve paused.

He finished quietly as he looked at Tony: "Ultron thinks we're monsters and we're what's wrong with the world."

Tony met Steve's eyes, and mutual understanding passed between them as Steve murmured: "This isn't just about beating him. It's about whether he's right."

Tony nodded, his face set with determination. Sonya moved to stand beside her brother. The others quietly turned away, preparing themselves mentally for the battle that was to come, as Clint fired up the quinjet, and Sonya pressed a kiss to Steve's cheek.

* * *

Sonya stood with Steve by one of the bridges, helping Sokovian's hurry out of the city. Wanda was taking care of the other side of the city, influencing her side to walk calmly out. Sonya and Steve's side were panicking a little more but the police force that Pietro had alerted moved about to help the pair keep order amongst those who were panicking.

Thor and Bruce meanwhile had gone to the hidden labs in Strucker's old base, Thor to search for the Vibranium and Bruce to search for Nat. Tony was looking for Ultron, while Clint had disappeared into the city to stake out somewhere amongst the roofs. Sonya guessed he would probably keep close to Wanda, since it was likely Wanda would be in the centre of the living quarters in order to reach as many civilians as possible.

Vision was combing the city for any civilians, and Pietro would join him soon. Sonya's nerves and muscles were pulled tight as she and Steve moved about, helping civilians while continually scanning the area, waiting. It would only be a matter of time before Ultron's soldiers came after them.

The sun was beginning to rise when Sonya tensed as she spotted movement around the edges of the city. Small figures began to climb out of rivers and bursting out of rocks and roads, heading up towards the city, and she saw it was hundreds of Ultron's robots.

"Steve!" she called out.

He turned to look as Sonya began hurrying the civilians to go.

"Run, come on!" She urged as she led people quickly off the bridge and towards cover.

Steve joined her, urging as the robots took the skies and began to zoom about, firing into the streets. He shouted at people urgently: "Go!"

A robot landed with a crash onto a car behind Steve and began blasting at him. Steve quickly used his shield to take it out, while Sonya hurried over as the last of the civilians hurried under cover. She drew on her powers so they surrounded her and began incapacitaing the robots and disabling them.

She and Steve fought side by side, drawing Ultron's robots to the bridge and keeping them engaged and away from civilians.

Sonya spun around, kicking another robot then sent it flying into a few other robots. She quickly pulled her knife and ran to jump and stab the robot she'd kicked, taking that out too. She'd just pulled her knife out again when Tony activated his comms, calling: "FRIDAY! The Vision?"

"Boss, it's working." His new AI, FRIDAY, answered. "He's burning Ultron out of the net, he won't escape through there."

 _Well, at least there's some good news._ Sonya thought briefly before she whirled around to stab another robot. Sonya grit her teeth. It was more exhausting than usual as it took more effort to break the metal casings and stab the robots. She found she was depending more on her powers in this battle.

She was also more vulnerable as she was forced to ensure the her powers completely killed the robots. They couldn't afford for even one robot to be left functioning, and it was costing not just her but all of them.

Steve was grunting as he whacked his shield hard into a robot, sharply cutting it in half as he split its power source beyond repair. He grabbed his shield and wrapped his arms around a robot's head as Sonya jumped over towards him. She stabbed it with one knife as she swiped across at another robot, killing the one Steve was holding and taking down the other.

Steve let go of his robot and threw his shield into the fallen robot, smashing it as Sonya pulled her knife from the one he'd dropped, only to stab it into another robot as it flew in. Suddenly there was an almighty crack, and a deep rumble before the whole city began to shake.

Sonya and Steve staggered about, trying to keep their balance as the ground shook violently, almost like an earthquake. The rumbling continued and Sonya looked over in horror as she continued to fight robots, to see the bridge cracking down the middle. It then lifted up, leaving the other half below and she killed the last robot before she dashed to join Steve as the super-soldier smashed another robot and tossed it over the edge.

They stared down in horror as the ground literally lifted off, leaving the outskirts of the city below while the rest rose into the air. Sonya's eyes were wide as she heard Tony ask quietly: "FRIDAY?"

"Sokovia's going for a ride." FRIDAY whispered.

More robots began flying in on the pair and as they started to fight again, Ultron began to speak to all the Avengers through each of the robots: "Do you see? The beauty of it, the inevitability. You rise, only to fall."

Sonya clenched her jaw, crushing the robot that was speaking until it stopped talking, but the one behind just continued for Ultron: "You, Avengers, you are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of your failure."

She and Steve killed the last robot again, but Ultron's voice continued from all parts of the city as his robots flew about: "Purge me from your computer's, turn my own flesh against me."

The brother and sister duo turned to each other, faces filled with worry. Ultron continued: "It means nothing. When the dust settles," Steve lifted his arm, punching an approaching robot without even looking back, "the only thing living in this world will be metal."

Sonya and Steve exchanged one more look as the city continued to climb. Sonya switched to her personal line with Tony, asking worriedly: "Tony?"

"FRIDAY?" Tony asked.

"The Vibranium core has got a magnetic field, that's what's keeping the rock together." FRIDAY explained

Sonya folded her lips while Tony asked urgently: "If it drops?"

"Right now the impact would kill thousands." FRIDAY answered. "Once it gets high enough: Global extinction."

"Roger that. Tapping out." Sonya sighed as she switched out of the line and back to the team line.

Steve glanced at her and he asked with a small sigh: "It's not good, is it?"

"Very not good." Sonya answered flatly.

Suddenly a robot whacked into Steve, tackling him and sending him flying backwards and crashing onto the hood of an abandoned car. Sonya whipped around and jumped to attack a robot as several more shot up, heading for the city. She took it down as Tony called sharply: "Cap, you got incoming."

"Incoming already came in." Steve groaned as he got up off the car. Sonya had jumped another robot, taking it down but accidentally causing it to explode as it crashed into a car. She let go in time to roll away and to safety, nodding at Steve reassuringly as he glanced over in alarm.

Steve sighed in relief before he ordered as he joined her in the fight: "Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed," Sonya glanced at him, "walk it off."

She snorted at that, and he met her eyes for a second. They exchanged determined looks before Steve whirled around to throw his shield and Sonya jumped, somersaulting in the air to avoid a robot as it flew in and tried to tackle her. She clenched her fist crushing it as it flew passed her, killing it as she landed in a crouch on her feet.

A mighty roar sounded throughout the city and Sonya grinned grimly. The Hulk had joined them. Nat was probably around somewhere then, and while she was a little worried for the redhead- as she was for everyone- they really needed all the help they could get.

As though to prove her point, a robot shot a blast that came a little too close for comfort. It worsened when it then aimed again and Sonya ran as it hit a car right behind her. The blast from the resulting explosion sent her flying and she quickly curled in on herself as she landed heavily against another car.

"Sonta!" Steve called sharply, and she called back into her comms: "I'm fine, just worry about yourself."

Steve turned around to smash the robot that had been trying to sneak up on him as Sonya pulled one of her knives and threw it hard at the robot. It hit the weak point in its neck, bringing it down and she jumped to stab it with her pulse knife, ensuring it stayed down.

* * *

Sonya and Steve had slowly made their way across the edge of the flying city as they fought, ending up near another broken bridge that would've led to the city outskirts. Sonya stabbed a robot and Steve smashed another with his shield, when a scream from the bridge made them both turn sharply.

"Steve!" Sonya called sharply,

"I'm on it!" he responded as he ran to the bridge.

Sonya continued to fight the robots, keeping them occupied as Steve dashed towards the sound. He quickly spotted the red convertible at the very edge of the bridge, a woman sitting in the driver's seat.

She'd apparently been struck by a fallen piece of debris on the car hood, trapping her legs, and she was screaming bloody murder as the car began to tip over the crumbling edge. Steve ran quickly, just managing to grab the rear bumper of the car as it tipped over the edge.

He groaned, gritting his teeth as he tried to pull the car back up, when the bumper broke off. He threw the bumper aside, leaning down in horror as he saw the red convertible and another green SUV fall down off the edge of the flying city. Steve breathed in relief however as he spotted a familiar red cape flying up.

Thor passed the falling cars, before he realized what was happening and quickly whipped around and back down. The woman was screaming, her legs now free but nowhere to go as her car fell nose-first towards the Earth. Thor flew up beside her, but he turned incredulously as he heard male voices screaming.

He saw the two men in the front seats of the SUV, and he almost sighed. Thor quickly landed on the back of the convertible, reaching down for the woman. The woman lifted her arms and Thor grabbed her. He quickly glanced back up at the bridge to see Steve there and ready.

Thor hauled the woman out of her seat and then threw her up. She screamed in absolute terror as she went shooting up towards the bridge, and Steve jumped off the edge of the bridge. He hung onto a ledge on the lower part of the broken bridge with one hand and reached down with his other to catch the woman.

She groaned, although her screaming stopped as Steve called reassuringly: "I got you!"

The woman cried in fear as she looked down at the Earth miles below, and Steve called reassuringly: "Just look at me."

Steve grunted as he heaved himself up, letting go of the bridge to grab a spot higher up and closer to the top of the bridge. He glanced up and breathed in relief as Sonya appeared above him, before he looked back down at the woman clinging to his hand. Steve hauled her up, bringing her safely against his chest.

Sonya reached down and Steve hoisted the woman up. The woman reached up to grab Sonya's hands and the agent pulled the woman up safely onto the bridge. A lone robot flew down onto the bridge, running to charge at Sonya's defenceless back as it snarled in Ultron's voice: "You can't save them all."

Steve's shield came flying over the edge of the bridge, whacking into the robot and wedging itself into its chest. Sonya covered the civilian woman, forcing her to duck for cover behind a car as Steve pulled himself onto the bridge. He landed on his feet right before the robot as Sonya turned to face it as well.

"You'll never-" The robot began, but Steve activated the magnets built into the arm of his suit. The shield came flying back towards his right arm, dragging the robot with it and Steve spun, whacking the robot and smashing its head in with his shield as it attached back onto his arm.

"You'll never what?" Steve quipped as the force of his hit sent the robot remains over the edge of the bridge. Sonya joined his side, raising a brow in amusement as Steve shouted after the robot. "You didn't finish!"

She chuckled and Steve wrapped his arm around her, kissing the side of her head as he said casually: "Hey, sis. What did I miss?"

Sonya snorted as the SUV landed on the bridge at that moment with a heavy thud. Thor landed on top of the SUV's car roof as the couple turned to look. Sonya was amused to see the two men in the front seats were looking rather green.

Thor hopped off the roof, and Steve and Sonya walked off with him, Steve joking to the God as the trio headed back towards the city: "What, were you napping?"

Sonya grinned, her smile widening as she heard the men climbing out of the SUV and hurling.

* * *

The smile was long gone a few moments later as she grit her teeth, fighting against another group of robots. Nat had found them and the two women were fighting with their teeth bared. The redheaded agent stabbed at the robots in a similar fashion to Sonya, armed with pulse batons that acted similarly to Sonya's knives.

They were also trying to avoid laser fire as more robots continued to fly in, shooting carelessly around in the general direction of the Avengers. Sonya's hands were full trying to take down as many robots as she could while avoiding the laser blasts and ensuring she didn't move to a position where missed shots would hit civilians.

Thor and Steve were working together to take down as many of the airborne robots as possible, Steve throwing his shield and Thor whacking Mjolnir. As Steve leapt after his shield after his most recent throw, he landed beside Thor. The two exchanged quick looks and then Steve threw up his shield.

Thor whacked it with his hammer, sending the shield smashing through an entire line of robots, cutting them all in half if not smashing them completely from the force of the momentum behind the blow. Steve ran after his shield again as it wedged into a car at the end of its rampage, punching and kicking any robots he encountered along the way into pieces.

Thor took to the sky once more, taking on a whole group of robots. He flew right into the centre, and spun around to hit all of them with Mjolnir. One of his targets was sent crashing back onto the ground, hitting an oil truck and causing an explosion that effectively took out another ten robots.

Sonya and Nat ducked behind a car to avoid the heat of the explosion before they leapt out on opposite sides to enter the fray once more. Ultron suddenly swooped in, tackling Thor and the two flew off, wrestling through the air. Sonya whirled around, using her powers on the robots once more when a blast hit the ground near her and sent her flying.

She landed heavily against a car, making her wince and leaving her momentarily unguarded. Her face contorted as a laser blast came flying towards her and she conjured a shield with her powers but a fraction of a second too late. But before the laser could hit, a blue-clad figure dropped in front of her and Steve deflected the blast with his shield.

"Son?" He demanded as he whipped his head around to look at her and she nodded.

"Thanks, bro." She got out, too sore and tired to say more.

His eyes narrowed with worry, but they were out of time. He swung his shield to smash an approaching robot as Sonya darted forward to slide under another robot, stabbing its legs to immobilize it before she jumped up and stabbed its head.

"Alright, we're all clear here." Clint called over the comms and Steve bit out as he punched a robot with his shield: "We are not clear! We are very not clear!"

He grunted as he punched the robot again, harder, to wedge his shield into it. He then jumped and kicked his shield, smashing it through the robot and killing its power completely at last.

"Alright, coming to you." Clint sighed tiredly, and Sonya almost snarled. Unfortunately, she was trying to save energy and she contented herself with stabbing her knife into a robot's neck and then smashing her fist all the way through to ensure she'd killed it.

She whirled around, fighting more of the robots. She whipped her head around sharply as Nat cried out, and she spotted the redhead struggling against four robots. Nat whacked one as Sonya crushed two of the robots.

"Romanoff!" Steve shouted as he threw his shield, wedging it into one of the robots right in a weak spot in its armour and causing it to power down.

Sonya and Steve came running over as Nat called to both of them: "Thanks."

She hit another robot as Sonya threw one of the robots the remaining three approaching robots, taking them out. Nat grabbed Steve's shield, using it to block the laser fire from the one remaining robot, and she crouched low as the two robots landed around her. She used the shield to block their attacks as Sonya and Steve ran up.

Sonya pulled her knife from one of the fallen robots and threw it at one of the robots attacking Nat as the redhead dodged another attack and tossed the shield up. Steve jumped and caught it, smashing it into the remaining robot as he landed.

The trio quickly checked that all immediate danger was cleared before they relaxed fractionally. Steve scanned the area one more time as Sonya checked Nat quickly, and the younger agent waved it off.

"I'm fine." She answered as Steve turned to the women. Sonya nodded while Steve walked over, checking Sonya as he did. She was rubbing her arm tiredly, but otherwise appeared unhurt. Sonya turned to Steve as he stopped beside her, her eyes filled with worry but it eased when Steve shook his head reassuringly.

The three exchanged looks before they moved away once more, splitting up slightly to check on the civilians and help any who hadn't yet made it to cover to get inside nearby buildings. Steve kept checking the skies and as he helped the last woman inside, he called into the comms: "The next wave's gonna hit any minute. What have you got, Stark?"

Sonya listened attentively as she also finished up, and her heart sank as Tony replied quietly: "Well, nothing great. Maybe a way to blow up the city. That'll keep it from impacting the surface if you guys can get clear."

"I asked for a solution, not an escape plan." Steve replied shortly as he walked out into the open ground once more. He stopped by the edge of the street, looking out into the sky as the city continued to fly higher.

"Impact radius is getting bigger every second." Tony answered softly. He didn't sound any happier as he told Steve grimly: "We're going to have to make a choice."

Nat joined Steve as she pointed out: "Cap, these people are going nowhere. If Stark finds a way to blow this rock-"

"Not 'til everyone's safe." Steve said tensely.

Sonya joined them as Nat threw Steve an incredulous look. She asked skeptically: "Everyone up here versus everyone down there? There's no math there."

"I'm not leaving this rock with one civilian on it." Steve answered firmly.

Nat replied,"I didn't say we should leave."

Steve glanced at her sharply, before glancing down at Sonya. His expression was clearly torn between his firm belief and the fear of losing her, the anxiety increasing. Sonya met his gaze evenly as she replied to his silent question: "There are worse ways to go."

She moved her head, leaning it against his shoulder. Steve's gaze softened although it was filled with sorrow as Sonya added softly: "At least we're together again."

Nat watched them as Steve bowed his head, his shoulders slumping slightly, and Sonya turned her head to meet Nat's gaze. Her expression clearly said she was including Nat, and the team, in her statement. Nat gave Sonya a sad smile, which the younger woman answered similarly.

Nat gestured at the sky around them, and the two women turned to look. They hadn't had the time or really the thought to appreciate the beauty despite the grim circumstances. The skies were bright blue with hints of pink and yellow from the morning sun.

Sonya leaned against Steve slightly as Nat murmured: "And hey, we get a good view."

Steve sighed, leaning closer to Sonya, but all three heads jerked up sharply as Fury's voice came over the comms: "Glad you like the view, Romanoff. It's about to get better."

Their jaws dropped just slightly and their eyes widened slightly as the SHIELD Helicarrier appeared, flying up out of the clouds. Sonya's breath caught and she exchanged shocked looks with Nat as Fury said smugly: "Nice, right? I pulled her out of mothballs with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

"Fury, you son of a bitch." Steve said flatly, but a hint of a smile was tugging at his lips.

Sonya was already smiling, grinning with Nat as Fury teased: "Oooh! You kiss your mother with that mouth?"

Sonya laughed as Nat wrinkled her nose, while Fury retorted: "She's not my agent anymore."

Maria Hill called: "Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing."

"Lifeboats secure to deploy." Another voice called and Sonya was surprised to hear it was Specialist Cameron Klein, an agent she didn't know very well but held respect for after the events at the Triskelion last year. "Disengage in three, two...take 'em out."

Sonya smiled as they saw the lifeboats fly off the Helicarrier and towards the city. There was the sound of rushing wind and Sonya glanced over to see Pietro had come over to stare in amazement. He asked her and Steve in awe: "This is SHIELD?"

"This is what SHIELD's supposed to be." Steve confirmed.

Sonya smiled as Pietro grinned and he conceded: "This is not so bad."

Sonya chuckled, making Pietro glance at her before offering a tentative smile. She returned it in a similar manner, feeling a closer kinship to the new team member.

 _Maybe he's not so bad._ She thought as Steve called to both the group and the rest of the team over the comms: "Let's load 'em up."

Please read and review guys and girls.


	9. Chapter 9

"You're up." Maria called, and Sonya looked up in surprise from where she was leading people to the lifeboats, to see another armour-clad figure fly out of the Helicarrier.

She grinned, especially as she heard Rhodey join their communications line, saying enthusiastically: "Yes! Now this is gonna be a good story."

"Yep. If you live to tell it." Tony quipped as he appeared beside War Machine, and Rhodey shot back: "You think I can't hold my own?"

"We get through this, I'll hold your own." Tony replied, and Sonya wrinkled her nose.

"You had to make it weird." Rhodey commented, voicing Sonya's thoughts.

She smiled briefly before she became serious once more and she helped the last passenger onto the lifeboat. She called: "Okay, we're good to go!"

"Number six boat is topped and locked." Specialist Klein confirmed over the comms. "Or, uh, or stocked," he added, stuttering nervously, "topped. It...it's, uh, full of people."

Sonya chuckled, she moved to her brother's side, helping him direct people into another lifeboat. Nat and Pietro had gone off to help other civilians into the lifeboats that flew all around the circumference of the flying city.

"Thor," Tony suddenly called, "I got a plan!"

Sonya and Steve looked up sharply, exchanging hopeful looks but it dimmed as Thor answered grimly: "We're out of time. They're coming for the core."

"Rhodey," Tony ordered, "get the rest of the people on board that carrier."

"On it." Rhodey answered.

Sonya shared looks with Steve as Tony called, a little teasingly: "Avengers, time to work for a living."

Steve started running towards the chruch as Sonya used her powers to fly there quickly.

They arrived at the church, joining most of the team as they assembled, and Sonya was relieved to see Clint looking fine.

He was standing with Wanda, and aside from a few dirt streaks neither seemed to have been hurt. She landed, nodding at Clint as relief washed over his face as he gave her a once-over as well, just as Pietro also dashed up.

"You good?" He asked his sister, checking her quickly even as she nodded and replied.

"Yeah." she replied.

Sonya watched them, taking in the close way they interacted. She'd noticed it before, but it was both intriguing and somewhat heart-warming to see just how much they cared for each other.

Well, it was heart-warming now that they weren't teaming up to kill the people she loved.

Sonya caught Wanda's eye as the thought went through her head, and Wanda gave her a tentative smile. Sonya grinned back, making Wanda's smile soften and become more genuine. Steve raised a brow at her, clearly amused.

Sonya elbowed him playfully as Tony called into his comms: "Romanoff? You and Banner better not be playing hide the zucchini."

Sonya laughed as Nat answered teasingly: "Relax, Shell-head. Not all of us can fly."

She joined the team, pulling up in a truck she'd commandeered and, judging from the bits of machinery smashed on the front, used to drive right through several of Ultron's robots. As Nat jumped out, joining Sonya and Clint, she asked: "What's the drill?"

"This is the drill." Tony replied shortly as he pointed to a small metal podium that Sonya realized must be the Vibranium core.

"If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose." Tony continued.

The team's faces became grim, becoming focused once more just as Ultron flew up. Sonya turned with the others to face him as he hovered a few feet away from the church, and Thor shouted defiantly at the robot: "Is that the best you can do?"

Sonya's eyes widened as Ultron simply gestured his hand and an entire army of his robots came running and flying from all over to stand behind their leader. The ex-SHIELD agents' mouths had all parted slightly in horror while Wanda's face paled and Pietro's jaw clenched.

Thor's mouth had also fallen slightly open, while Steve sighed, asking Thor sarcastically: "You had to ask."

Thor glanced back at the super-soldier sheepishly, while

Ultron smirked,"This is the best I can do. This is exactly what I wanted, all of you," he gestured at the Avengers, "against all of me."

Sonya's powers started to flicker around her clenched fists and she exchanged looks with Nat as Ultron finished dismissively: "How can you possibly hope to stop me?"

Sonya's jaw tightened at his arrogance, and she was gratified- and a little smug- when Tony answered firmly: "Well, like the old man said."

He glanced at Steve, who looked back in surprise as Tony finished: "Together."

The Hulk roared in agreement, as Tony glanced back at Sonya to see her grinning at him. It was a little tight, given the impending fight, but it was genuine and warmed his heart. Tony turned back to face the army with the rest of his team as Ultron pointed his hand.

The robot army launched itself at the Avengers, who simply took a fighting a stance and met the army head-on. Sonya placed her feet apart in a slight crouch as the robots came at the Avengers from all sides of the circular church, entering through various points in the many archways. The Avengers simply drew themselves in a tight circle around the vibranium core, stopping all robots from coming any closer.

Sonya's powers burst to life around her to help crush, throw and tear apart the robots that were running and flying in from all directions. Beside her, Clint took out the longer-range targets while Steve covered her on all the ones she missed. Behind them, Nat, Wanda and Thor were pulling and smashing apart robots with their various skills as Tony fired away all the robots coming at them from a distance.

Pietro was running around at light-speed, breaking apart robots as they entered the archways, while Vision took to the air to head off the robots coming in through the collapsed roof. Hulk roared and ran about outside, preventing as many robots as he could from entering the citadel at all.

Steve grabbed a robot in a headlock, snapping its head off as Sonya pulled it apart cleanly in two. She had ditched her knives and used her ultimate weapon continuously. Her mind.

The Avengers continued to fight, becoming one defensive body as they each covered one another. Wanda's and Sonya's powers kept any robots from coming closer to the core as Nat, Clint and Steve spread a little further out to take out robots in the middle of the church.

Pietro, Vision, Tony, and Thor ran and flew about the small church perimeters and ceilings to take out the robots entering the church and any of the airborne ones that Steve and the agents missed.

Hulk came running in, finished with his job outside, to help the team as he smashed all the robots in his sight. He joined the Avengers in taking out the remaining robots as Ultron finally joined the fray. The furious robot flew in, tackling Vision and punching him aside.

The android wasn't that easily dissuaded, and Vision quickly retaliated, firing his mind stone power at Ultron and shooting him right in the chest. Ultron went flying out the church, Vision right behind as he kept the beam from his mind stone fixed firmly on Ultron. Thor quickly followed Vision outside, and Tony joined them as the three took on the largest hurdle.

Inside the church, the rest of the Avengers finished off all robots that were left, and Hulk went running outside. Pietro disappeared as well while Sonya bent over, clutching her knees as she tried to catch her breath.

Wanda, Nat, and Clint were in similar conditions, the four exhausted and needing the brief respite. Steve placed a hand on her shoulder, his face equally weary but concerned for her.

"I'm fine." Sonya promised between gasps as she slowly stood upright once more. Steve watched her worriedly, but didn't comment as Nat and Clint also straightened painfully. Wanda, noting their resilience, also grimaced but stood up tall once more.

They all stiffened once more as Thor interrupted, calling sharply: "They'll try to leave the city."

The Avengers inside the church tensed immediately, but Sonya exhaled in relief as Tony replied firmly: "We can't let 'em, not even one. Rhodey!"

"I'm on it." Rhodey answered immediately.

Sonya sighed in relief, but they weren't in the clear yet. Steve was clearly thinking the same as he ordered the Avengers: "We gotta move out. Even I can tell the air is getting thin. You guys get to the boats."

He nodded at Nat and Clint, adding as he glanced about the city outside: "I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you."

He met eyes with Sonya, who didn't look happy to be separated. But they both knew better than to let feelings bias their judgements, and she nodded once in understanding as he finished.

"What about the core?" Clint questioned as he glanced at the vibranium core.

Before anybody else could respond, Wanda answered: "I'll protect it."

They all looked at her in surprise, and Sonya was particularly intrigued when Wanda looked at Clint as she said firmly: "It's my job."

Sonya and Nat glanced at Clint curiously, taking in his somewhat surprised but also proud expression. He nodded once before turning to the girls and calling: "Nat. Son."

The pair nodded, and Nat followed Clint out as Sonya glanced at Wanda one more time. _Clint must've motivated her somehow._ Sonya realized. _Sometime during the battle…_

She met eyes with Wanda as the thought passed through her head, and Wanda nodded slowly. Sonya raised a brow, but simply turned to go after her friends. She noted Steve watching her anxiously now that the others were moving, and she called over her shoulder to the him and Wanda: "See you two back on the boats."

Sonya ran off to join Clint and Nat in a convertible Clint had managed to 'borrow', missing Wanda's momentarily astonished expression and Steve's soft grin.

The super-soldier glanced at Wanda once more, as the young woman's face morphed into a small smile. Wanda had been surprised by Sonya's warmer thoughts since the battle had begun, and it made her a little happier- more than she'd thought possible. It was harder to say with the others, but it seemed Sonya had joined Clint and Steve in accepting Wanda and her brother.

Wanda glanced at Steve as the thought passed her mind and she felt his eyes on her. Steve's face was slightly worried as he watched her, his eyes holding concern for the young woman and Wanda was once again struck by the warmth in the Avengers. It was something she hadn't expected, and she nodded back firmly, showing him she could handle things.

Steve finally headed out as well, moving in the other direction from Nat and Clint as he ran towards the city. Wanda watched the man run off thoughtfully before she turned back to the core, ready to do her duty.

There was a flash of silver, and Pietro appeared beside her as he returned from taking out the last of the robots left on the flying city that he could find. Wanda checked him quickly for injuries before she ordered: " Get the people on the boats."

"I'm not going to leave you here." Pietro argued, but Wanda cut him off sternly: "I can handle these."

As though to prove her point, a robot came flying towards them and Wanda swiftly dealt with it, blasting it to pieces with her power. Pietro shrugged in grudging agreement as Wanda finished as though uninterrupted: "Come back for me when everyone else is off, not before."

Pietro hummed in reluctant agreement, starting to move away unhappily and Wanda ordered sharply: "You understand?"

"You know," Pietro said at last as he turned back to his sister, "I'm twelve minutes older than you."

That made Wanda laugh, and she chuckled as she tossed back at her brother: "Go."

* * *

Sonya rolled her eyes from her seat behind Clint and Nat, as Clint commented while he drove them down the ruined streets: "I know what I need to do. The dining room!"

Nat glanced at Clint and then looked back at Sonya, rolling her eyes as well, while Clint continued, ignoring them as he planned: "If I knock out that east wall, it'll make a nice work space for Laura, huh? Put up some baffling, she can't hear the kids running around, what do you think?"

Clint swerved the car sharply around some debris, while Nat commented easily: "You guys always eat in the kitchen anyway."

"No one eats in a dining room." Clint scoffed, and Sonya pointed out: "You mean, no-one named Barton."

"I don't see you and Cap eating in the dining room, either." Clint pointed out. "Or Nat, or Tony, for that matter."

Sonya shrugged, conceding his point as they arrived by the last lifeboat. Clint stopped the car sharply, just as they heard a roar in the distance. All three heads whipped around in the direction the sound had come from, before Sonya and Clint glanced at Nat.

The redhead was still staring at the area the roar had come from, and Clint pointed out a little worriedly: "We don't have a lot of time."

"So get your ass on a boat." Nat answered flatly as she opened the car door and hurried off. Clint and Sonya watched her go worriedly, before exchanging looks.

"She'll be fine." Sonya said firmly.

"I know she will." Clint shot back.

Neither commented on how it sounded more like they were trying to reassure themselves than each other. ' _Sometimes',_ Sonya thought with a sigh, ' _we really do worry too much about each other._ _And from Clint's face, he's thinking the same thing as I am'._

She grimaced back as Clint, who had been watching her, pulled a face.

"Yeah, who needs mind powers?" Clint said a little sarcastically. "Wanda's powers aren't as impressive as yours."

Sonya snorted as the pair got out of the car, Sonya hopping out the side. She tossed back lightly: "Say that to her face."

"Yeah, and then she'd probably control me to kick myself in the ass." Clint pointed out. Sonya chuckled a little as she and Clint hurried towards the lifeboat, both pausing a little by the boat's edge.

Clint glanced at Sonya as she turned to look out worriedly, and he said softly: "Cap'll be fine, too."

"I know he will." Sonya answered quickly, perhaps a little too quickly.

Sonya's eyes lit up even before she looked in the direction Clint indicated. Steve had appeared out of the dust and debris, leading a few people towards the lifeboat.

"Costel?" A young, blond woman called worriedly. Clint was already scanning the area intently as Sonya glanced back at the woman before turning back to look around the debris while the woman continued desperately: "We were in the market. Costel?!"

Clint spotted a small, boyish figure trapped beneath some fallen concrete off to one side of the ruined marketplace. His lips pressed together as Sonya saw the direction of his gaze and also peered through some flames from a burning car to see the same boy, most likely who the woman was looking for.

"I got it." Clint muttered as Sonya made to move. She paused, hesitating as Clint took off at a light jog towards the trapped child.

Sonya watched him worriedly, but relaxed a little as Steve also spotted Clint's movement and kept an eye on the agent. The super-soldier sent the civilians he had been escorting on ahead, and Sonya stepped forward to help the people onto the lifeboat as Tony called: "Thor, I'm gonna need you back in the church."

"Is this the last of them?" Thor asked Steve quickly, nodding at the civilians Sonya was helping onto the lifeboat.

"Yeah." Steve confirmed as he stopped beside Thor, still watching Clint every so often. "Everyone else is on the carrier."

"You know, if this works," Tony called warningly, "we maybe don't walk away."

Sonya tensed as she helped the last person onto the lifeboat, but Thor just answered determinedly: "Maybe not."

Sonya's face filled with worry once more as she turned away from strapping in the last Sokovian, looking back out at Thor and Steve. She relaxed just slightly as Pietro appeared, coming to a stop beside her, and Sonya glanced at him. The pair nodded at each other in silent greeting, Sonya sighing a little. ' _At least that was one more back safe.'_ She thought, before Sonya's eyes slid back over to Clint.

Clint was just pulling the boy out of the rubble and making to head back to the lifeboat when they heard the sound of rapid gunfire coming from Nat's side of the city. Sonya's head whipped around as the Hulk roared, and the Avengers quinjet came zooming around the corner. Her eyes widened and her blood ran cold as Ultron fired once more, the machine laser-gun firing rapidly down onto the ruined streets.

"Steve!" Sonya called sharply as the laser rained down on the super-soldier and Thor, and she almost breathed in relief as Steve barely managed to get his shield up in time to block the blasts. Thor had also dived aside, avoiding the gun firing down in a straight line onto the streets.

But Sonya's relief was short-lived as she saw exactly where the quinjet's path would lead.

"Clint!" Sonya screamed in horror as the agent turned to see the jet's fire coming right towards him. He would never make it, not while carrying the boy- Costel- and it was clear from his expression that he knew it. Clint's face became grim and filled with determination as he simply turned his body to at least shield the boy from the blaster fire. Sonya took a step forward, her body reaching for the man she considered her nephew even though she knew there was no way she could reach him in time.

There was a whoosh beside Sonya as a sudden, sharp gust of wind blew passed. Time seemed to slow, and Sonya stared as her foot landed one step off the boat, her brain struggling to comprehend what had happened in that one second. The bullets had rained ever closer to the archer, but even after the quinjet had flown passed, Clint stayed crouched… unharmed, thanks to a car suddenly appearing before him and the boy, shielding the agent from the gunfire.

Sonya's heart dropped like a stone as she stared in horror, watching numbly as Clint slowly lifted his head and saw exactly what, or rather who, had protected him. Clint's mouth dropped open slightly as he stared at Pietro, who met his gaze as he stood, unable to move from where he'd been forced to stop after dragging the car out in front of Clint.

"You didn't see that coming." Pietro murmured with his last breath before he toppled over and fell towards the ground. Sonya finally managed to break free from her frozen stupor, and she ran for the fallen man. She knew he'd be dead, even before he reached the ground judging by the many bullet wounds in his body, bleeding through his suit.

But she couldn't stop herself as she ran over while Clint placed the boy down to bend over and check Pietro's neck. Steve ran over as well, arriving beside Clint just before Sonya did, while Thor turned away grimly before he flew off to do his duty.

Clint met their eyes, and his look said it all. Sonya's eyes filled with sorrow as Steve's face became grim, while Clint turned back to the boy. Sonya leaned down, helping Steve as he bent down and picked up Pietro's body. Steve carried Pietro, following Clint as the archer carried the boy back to the lifeboat.

Sonya walked by Steve's side, none of them saying a word, even as Clint passed the boy into his relieved mother's arms and Steve gently placed Pietro onto the ground in one corner of the lifeboat. Steve glanced at Sonya briefly, his gaze questioning and she nodded.

"I'll stay with him." She confirmed, and Steve nodded as well. He wrapped an arm around Sonya gently, hugging her briefly and she closed her eyes as she leant against him. She accepted his support for one second before she opened her eyes and stood upright once more. Steve let her go, moving to check the city one last time just in case, while Clint came over to join Sonya and Pietro.

Clint sat down heavily on one of the open seats beside Pietro, waving off a medical personnel as he muttered: "No, no. I'm fine."

The man turned to Sonya, who also shook her head without even looking over. Her gaze was fixed morosely on Pietro, occasionally flickering to Clint. His eyes were also trained solely on the Sokovian lying between them, only leaving to glance over at Sonya briefly as he made to lie down.

"It's been a long day." Clint muttered as he lay down on the seats, and Sonya nodded.

"It sure has." She murmured.

Clint didn't say anything else, just keeping his head turned to stare sadly down at Pietro's bloodied form. There were no tears... not yet. They couldn't. Sometimes... sometimes, when it was just too much, not even tears could wash away the pain. Sonya watched over the pair silently, also quietly mourning the young man's loss. They hadn't been friends, but she had the feeling they could have been. And that lost possibility made the grief harder to come to terms with.

There was a loud rumble, and Sonya glanced over to see Steve running back for the lifeboat. She stood up sharply as the city began to fall down, Steve jumping onto the edge of the lifeboat just in time before the ground fell beneath him.

Sonya also moved away from her seat to peer sadly over the side of the lifeboat, watching as Sokovia went into free fall, the flying city picking up speed as it tumbled towards Earth. The lifeboat lifted away, heading towards the Helicarrier, and Sonya's brows knit anxiously. There was no sign of Nat or Bruce, and she had no idea where Wanda was.

 _Oh, God. Wanda_. Sonya realized. Wanda must've felt Pietro's death through her telekinetic powers. It was probably why the vibranium core activated and went into reverse-thrust: Wanda's grief would've distracted the young woman from her task. Not very professional, but only to be expected and really, at the moment, all Sonya could feel was pity for the sibling left behind.

 _'If she even made it out_.' Sonya thought anxiously. She hadn't seen Wanda come out, and if she was still on that rock... It was at that moment when the whole flying city below them cracked, breaking into thousands upon thousands of pieces that rained down more harmlessly into the ocean below.

Unfortunately, while this meant Earth was safe from Ultron's plans, it didn't guarantee Tony and Thor's survival. Tony could easily have been crushed by one of the still enormous pieces of rock, as could Thor. _Please, please._ Sonya begged in her mind as she leant over the edge of the lifeboat.

Sonya jumped as a hand landed on her shoulder, and she turned to see a wearied Steve. But despite the exhaustion etched across his face, his blue eyes were determined as he looked down at her, while he called over his comms: "Fury, status report on the team?"

"The Hulk carried Romanoff onboard before he jumped after the quinjet and Ultron." Fury replied, and Sonya let out a sigh of relief. _That was one_.

Steve gave her an encouraging smile, as Fury continued: "Vision also grabbed Wanda Maximoff before Sokovia blew, and they're both safe here. Colonel Rhodes is out looking for Stark and Thor. No word yet on the two, but we did capture a heat signature in the ocean."

"Just one?" Sonya interrupted anxiously.

Clint also lifted his head from his spot on the seats while Steve wrapped an arm tightly around Sonya's shoulders in comfort. Fury replied calmly: "So far, yes, but-"

"Aw, is that all you've got, Nick?" Tony's voice suddenly called over the comms.

Sonya's eyes widened before her face broke into a watery smile while Clint dropped his head again with a small smile and Steve sighed in a mix of relief and annoyance at her nephew's cocky tone. Fury answered dryly: "I knew it'd take more than an entire city falling on you to kill you, Stark."

"Is that supposed to be an insult or a compliment?" Tony wondered.

Steve cut in as he returned to business: "So Thor?"

"Found him, he was in the water. He's fine, I think he's just knocked out." Rhodey called over the comms.

"Bring him up, I'll have medics on standby." Fury ordered.

"Yes, sir." Rhodey called back as Steve added worriedly: "And Banner?"

There was silence for a beat, and Sonya's heart dropped. "He's gone MIA." Fury replied quietly.

Steve's arm tightened around Sonya, rubbing soothing circles as Tony also remained silent.

Fury continued glumly: "His last known position was on the quinjet, where he turned Romanoff's communication off. With the quinjet on stealth mode, our hands are tied."

The team lapsed into silence. Tony and Sonya's tinkering had ensured the quinjet was completely untraceable in stealth mode, even to their own tech. Little had they known that would come back to bite them - hard - in the asses.

' _Now we've lost Bruce as well.'_ Sonya thought sadly. ' _Poor Nat.'_

It was looking like a very bad day for the women on the Avengers team, if you could count Wanda as an Avenger now. And even though the losses were less of a blow for Sonya, she felt each keenly and she mourned for both the men they'd lost and the women left behind to deal with the heartbreak.

Steve wrapped his other arm around Sonya, hugging her close, knowing how she was feeling. Sonya welcomed the warmth that he provided, and despite her heavy heart, she felt a little better as she laid her head against Steve's chest and felt his strong arms around her, grateful that at least, he was alive and beside her.

Sonya strode out from Wanda's room after checking that she was alright and had everything she needed. They had finally found everything necessary to help make the young Sokovian woman feel at home in the new Avengers facility, and Sonya had helped put up the final touches to the room decorations.

But the two women had grown closer since the Sokovian incident, and Wanda tended to shadow the older blonde as she tried to adjust to her new life with the Avengers. It reminded Sonya of when Clint and Natasha shadowed her when they first started. It felt good to have someone to teach and also help with powers similar to hers.

With Clint now retired and spending time with his family, Wanda trailed behind Sonya, despite the fact that she had the other Avengers, and Sonya noticed that Wanda tended to look most comfortable around her.

Maybe because they were both women, and Nat was currently incredibly unapproachable. Or maybe it was the fact that Sonya was teaching Wanda more about her powers.

Nat had tried to pitch in occasionally to help, but she was much broodier lately after Bruce's disappearance and often wasn't the best company. It was slowly getting better, but Sonya felt it best not to push the redhead. She would be fine, when and only when she was ready.

Steve and Tony had also been much busier as they restored the Avengers and set up their new base in one of Tony's old warehouses, deep in the middle of the woods. Thor was often helping the other men out, when he wasn't watching Vision thoughtfully. The android, along with their newer recruits, were also busy trying to settle into their new places to be much comfort to the Sokovian.

So, perhaps it was natural that Wanda would turn to the woman. Sonya welcomed Wanda with warmth, extending that also to Vision.

The android also seemed to hover around Sonya, although she suspected it was because he knew from Jarvis' 'memories' that Sonya had helped Steve initially assimilate into modern life. The android often had the same lost look Steve had had in the first year or so after he woke from the ice, and Sonya tried to help out Vision as she had Steve, though she noted Wanda seemed to be better company for the android. There was something there, that made her wonder if this was what Clint and Nat had seen years ago when she had first met Steve in New York.

Sonya's phone beeped at that moment, breaking her from her contemplations. She glanced at the message to see it was a video message from Clint and she raised a brow as she saw the baby's shirt. Swiping the phone, she watched the video as the baby gurgled happily while Laura cooed in the background: "Say hi to Auntie Nat and Auntie Son."

Sonya grinned, feeling a little sentimental as she re-read the words on the baby's shirt: 'Nathaniel Pietro Barton'.

Her gaze also lingered on the baby, her new 'nephew', and her thoughts wandered to Nat. She wondered if Nat had seen the message, and if it would hopefully make her feel better… along with the news that Fury would deliver on what Specialist Klein had found on the quinjet and Bruce.

 _'Actually, even if it made her feel better, she'd probably only have some snarky comment to say.'_ Sonya amended thoughtfully.

As though in echo to her thoughts, Sonya turned a corner to see Fury walking out, carrying a tablet. He spotted her and raised a brow as she strode over. Sonya glanced quickly at the tablet to see it was opened to a map pinpointing an area in the Banda Sea, and she smiled.

"Showed Nat?" She asked, and Fury nodded.

"She seemed better after." He confirmed and Sonya nodded gratefully.

She paused as she glanced back at the tablet, and she asked curiously: "Nick?"

"Hm?" He asked, although there was a gleam in his eye that told Sonya he knew exactly what she was going to ask.

"You sent Nat, back in 2012, to recruit Bruce." Sonya began and Fury smirked.

Sonya continued anyway: "And you took me when you went to recruit Steve."

"Your question?" Fury asked with a blank expression, although he couldn't quite completely mask his amusement.

"You planned it, didn't you?" Sonya asked bluntly and Fury chuckled.

"You know, it's sometimes creepy how similar you three DELTA agents are." He chuckled and Sonya raised a brow.

"Nat asked the same thing?" She asked, not really surprised, and Fury confirmed in amusement: "Almost- she was subtler. You take more after Barton."

Sonya snorted at that, "No, he talks more like me." Sonya replied.

Fury smirked and went on: "To answer your question: I just gave you two a push. As I told Romanoff- I just hoped for the best and made do with what I got. I got a great team. The rest was up to you."

"That didn't actually answer my question." Sonya pointed out, and he smiled as he answered:

"But you know how to read between the lines. You taught me that."

She grinned back, and Fury nodded to the windows facing out into the lawn.

"Looks like your brother is about to wrap up."

Sonya glanced outside to see Steve walk out with Thor and Tony, the trio exchanging light banter.

* * *

"The rules have changed." Steve continued on with their discussion as they walked, and Tony agreed: "We're dealing with something new."

"Well, the Vision's artificial intelligence." Steve supplied, and Tony added: "A machine."

"So it doesn't count." Steve finished in satisfaction, and Tony agreed: "No. It's not like a person lifting the hammer."

Thor fought a smile as he walked between the two men, completely amused as Steve went on, eager to agree with Tony on this matter: "Right. Different rules for us."

"Nice guy, but artificial." Tony continued.

"Thank you." Steve said.

"If he can wield the hammer, he can keep the Mind Stone." Thor said at last as he finally stopped the petty competition. He became more serious as he continued thoughtfully: "It's safe with the Vision and these days, safe is in short supply."

There was a beat of silence as the three fell into apparent deep thought, before Steve piped up: "But if you put the hammer in an elevator..."

 **"** It would still go up." Tony agreed, and Steve pointed out as he fought a teasing smile: "Elevator's not worthy."

Thor laughed as well before he patted the two men on the back, saying wryly: "I'm going to miss these little talks of ours."

"Well, not if you don't leave." Tony pointed out as he gave the God a meaningful look.

Thor chuckled again, but he was serious as he explained, growing pensive: "I have no choice. The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. That's not a coincidence."

The trio stepped out into the lawn as Thor said seriously: "Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. But once all these pieces are in position..."

"Triple Yahtzee?" Tony suggested as he reached into his suit jacket.

Steve added as he looked at Thor curiously: **"** You think you can find out what's coming?"

"I do." Thor confirmed confidently as Tony pulled out a pair of sunglasses and placed them on his nose.

"Besides this one," Thor patted Tony on the chest, "there's nothing that can't be explained."

Thor stepped forward, turning back to nod once in greeting to his teammates before he raised his hammer and, in a burst of light, disappeared and returned to Asgard. Only an intricately designed burn mark, shaped within a perfect circle, was left of the God's presence.

Steve glanced down with some feeling of sentimentality, but he snorted as Tony quipped: "That man has no regard for lawn maintenance."

Tony glanced over at Steve as the blond gave him an amused grin, before the pair turned back towards the facility.

"I'm gonna miss him though." Tony added suddenly and Steve raised a brow.

He raised both brows as Tony continued as the pair headed over towards the garage entrance.

"And you're gonna miss me. There's gonna be a lot of manful tears."

Steve had to smile at Tony's jesting tone, knowing the man was trying to express his feelings in his usual round-a-bout way. As Tony called his orange sports car remotely, Steve turned to the other man, saying seriously: "I will miss you, Tony."

"Yeah?" Tony answered cockily. But there was an undertone of seriousness as his car drew up and he went on: "Well, it's time for me to tap out. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book and build Pepper a farm, hope nobody blows it up."

"The simple life." Steve chuckled as he stood beside Tony.

"You'll get there one day." Tony said pointedly as he glanced at Steve and then back at the facility.

Steve chuckled, but his expression turned thoughtful as he said slowly: "I don't know. It's true, there is a part of me that still wants that- family, stability. But I have my sister."

He paused again and Tony's expression became more understanding as Steve continued: "But the guy who wanted _only_ that went in the ice seventy-five years ago. I think someone else came out."

Tony nodded once, making to get into his car but he stopped. Turning back to Steve, he asked seriously: "You all right?"

Steve grinned, his smile widening as Sonya appeared in the facility doorway, leaning casually against the doorframe.

"I'm home." Steve murmured, and Tony glanced back over his shoulder, even though he knew from Steve's expression exactly who would be there.

Tony rolled his eyes playfully and Sonya called jokingly: "Don't let me get in the way of your moment."

"Too late Aunt, you ruined it." Tony joked back as Steve laughed.

Sonya smiled and walked over, joining Steve's side, saying to Tony, "See you around, Tony."

"Yeah. It's never goodbye between us, right, Son?" Tony teased, but there was a serious undercurrent to his question that both Steve and Sonya picked up on.

Steve smiled while Sonya grinned softly, and she affirmed: "You and me, Tony? Never."

Tony laughed and got into his car.

"Goodbye, Tony." Steve called, and Tony waved as he drove off.

The pair waved back as they watched Tony disappear down the driveway before Sonya turned to Steve with a smile and he grinned.

* * *

Nat was standing as she had been for the past few hours, and really as she did often lately, staring blankly at the wall on the other side of the training room. She continued to stare pensively, her arms folded across her chest, when she was brought out of her thoughts by a familiar voice.

"You want to keep staring at the wall, or do you want to go to work?" Steve called from the doorway.

Nat turned around in mild amusement to face a very content-looking Steve and Sonya, "I mean, it's a pretty interesting wall." she added sarcastically.

"How do we look?" Steve asked in a formal tone.

Sonya grinned, having seen Nat's subtle glance, while Steve answered in the same business tone as he handed Nat a tablet with the info on the new recruits: "Well, we're not the '27 Yankees."

"We've got some hitters." Nat replied, easily kicking up a banter with Steve as the trio started to walk out towards the hanger room where they were scheduled to meet the recruits.

"They're good." Steve conceded, though he added: "They're not a team."

"Let's beat 'em into shape." Nat replied as she lowered the tablet and pulled ahead.

Nat grinned and the pair followed Steve inside as he pushed the doors open, flanking him as Rhodey lifted the visor of his War Machine suit, Vision turned to face them expectantly, Sam landed in his Falcon suit, and Wanda floated down from her room.

Nat stood at ease with her hands behind her back while Sonya raised a brow and smirked at the recruits below. Steve straightened his back as he also surveyed the group, who watched the trio with varying degrees of anticipation and respect, before he called: "Avengers...!"


	10. Chapter 10

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Sonya was outside on the grass with Wanda, talking to her about training while Steve had Sam running drills.

"Ok, what I need you to do is, using your powers lift me up onto the roof" Sonya explained, "I will demonstrate"

"Ok" Wanda replied.

She turned to where Steve and Sam were, "Steve, your assistance please"

Steve and Sam ran over to the girls, "How can I help" Steve said.

"You know how sometimes I lift you up to high places with my powers" she explained and Steve nodded as Sonya continued. "I want to show Wanda and then she can do it to me"

"Are you sure that's safe" Sam asked.

"Would you prefer to volunteer?" Sonya asked, Sam shook his head, "I didnt think so."

She looked back at Wanda, "You ready?"

Sonya's powers appeared around her and then formed around Steve, lifting him up so he landed on the roof steadily. He waved back at them.

"Ready to give it a go" Sonya asked Wanda.

Wanda nodded and summoned her powers, she concentrated and surrounded Sonya with her powers, lifting her up a little shaky at first but she managed to lift Sonya up onto the roof with Steve.

"Well done" Sonya yelled down.

"Um, how are we getting down?" Steve asked.

"Jump" she said and jumped off, she used her powers to stop her just before she hit the ground and she casually landed softly on ground. She looked up at Steve, "You coming down or what?" she yelled up at him.

"Are you going to help? Steve asked.

Sonya shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe"

Steve cautiously jumped off and just before he hit the ground he felt himself come to a sudden stop a metre from the ground. And was slowly lowered to the ground.

Steve looked at his sister, "Thanks"

* * *

After training all day, Sonya had had a shower, gotten changed and was sitting on the couch flipping through tv channels when Sam walked through the door looking exhausted.

Sonya looked up, "Steve train you a bit hard babe?"

Sam looked at her, "You think?!" as he walked past the couch, he tried to give her a kiss but she slapped him away.

"You stink, go have a shower then you can have a kiss" she said as she tried not to let her touch him.

"Maybe you could join me!" Sam said wiggling his eyebrows.

"Would love to babe," she said seductively getting Sam's hopes up as she went to get up, "but I have already had a shower." She said as she sat back down.

Sam just looked at her for a minute, "Tease" he said as he walked to their room.

Sonya smiled to herself and kept flicking through channels.

Lagos, Nigeria

Steve stood in the small motel room across from the suspected target, dressed in his full Captain America uniform, except for the helmet which was on the bed beside him. His shield was held by the magnets sewn onto the back of his uniform as he peeked carefully through a gap in the dappled curtains.

"Alright, what do you see?" Steve asked into his comms, and Wanda answered from her spot at a café near the police station: "Standard beat cops. Small station. Quiet street. It's a good target."

"There's an ATM in the south corner, which means-" Steve added.

"Cameras." Wanda finished.

"Both cross streets in one way?" Steve prompted.

Wanda answered shortly: "So compromised escape routes."

Steve glanced at the Nigerian newspapers on the motel bed, which read: 'Police Stations Robbed' and 'Weapons sold to terrorists'. The first paper showed a picture of a masked man under the headlines, the man standing tall as he pointed two pistols out towards the public. The other had Brock Rumlow's old SHIELD photo, showing the man as Steve had known him in STRIKE, before he'd become 'Crossbones'.

Steve muttered as he turned back to look out the window: "Means our guy doesn't care about being seen; he isn't afraid to make a mess on the way out."

He noted something else down the street, and he said to Wanda softly: "You see that ranger over half way up the block?"

"You mean the red one?" Wanda asked as she glanced over furtively. "It's cute."

"It's also bullet proof," Nat commented dryly as she suddenly chimed in on the comms, "which means private security, which means more guns, which means more headaches for somebody, probably us."

"You guys know I can move things with my mind, right?" Wanda pointed out.

"So do I, but still doesn't mean we are invincible" Sonya said over the comms reminding her protege.

Steve almost rolled his eyes as Nat chided Wanda from where she'd secretly taken up position behind the new Avenger: "Looking over your shoulder needs to become a second nature."

"Anybody ever tell you, you're a little paranoid?" Sam asked with a hint of amusement as he also joined in on the comms, presumably after he'd taken up his position on the roof of the tallest apartment building a few blocks away from their target. Sonya next to him trying to pinpoint anyone's thoughts who could give a clue.

"Not to my face." Nat shot back. "Why, did you hear something?"

"Eyes on target, folks." Steve said firmly, bringing his team back to focus on the situation. "This is the best lead we have on Rumlow in 6 months, I don't want to lose him. Psych, any leads yet"

"Not yet Cap" she responded.

"If he sees us coming, there won't be a problem of losing him. He kind of hates us." Sam pointed out.

"Except for Sonya" Nat chimed in.

Steve almost sighed, but his attention was caught as he turned to look out another window, where he could just make out people shouting angrily. He peered down, his eyes instantly zooming in on a truck that was barreling down the street and forcing people and cars to move out of its way.

"Sam," Steve called urgently, "see that garbage truck?"

He didn't have to elaborate as the truck hit a parked car, completely ignoring the chaos it was causing as it continued down the street.

"Tag it." Steve ordered.

There was about a ten second pause as Sam deployed his small falcon-shaped device, courtesy of Tony and Sonya. Sam ordered, letting his voice carry over all the comms so that the team could hear: "Give me X-ray."

There was another three second pause, and then Sam relayed to Steve quickly: "The truck's loaded for max weight, and the driver's armed."

"Driver is shitting himself Cap. Pumping himself up to do something drastic. Jump out of a moving truck perhaps." Sonya said.

"It's a battering ram." Nat murmured in horrified realization.

"Go now." Steve ordered, keeping his voice calm.

"Why?" Wanda asked in confusion, while the others immediately reacted.

"He's not aiming for the police." Sonya answered shortly as she took off from the roof her and Sam were perched on.

Steve quickly strapped the helmet on for safety as he raced out of the motel, drawing the attention of the crowd. But he couldn't afford to care or really notice as he ran as fast as he could down the street the garbage truck had headed down. He immediately saw where the truck had gone, not that it was difficult. It would be kind of hard to miss the giant hole the truck had caused in the gated entryway for the Institute for Infectious Diseases.

"Sam!" He called, and Sam quickly dropped down from the skies. Steve reached up as he grabbed his shield off his back, Sam swooping down to grab the Captain by his free arm.

Sam flew up towards the destroyed Institute gate quickly.

"Now!" Steve called and Sam dropped the super-soldier. Steve lifted his shield, curling behind it as he landed right on top of one of Rumlow's guards, standing outside the Institute building.

Steve crashed the man into a nearby car with the force of his landing, knocking the man out as he quickly lifted his shield once more and took brief cover by the car, blocking the gunfire that the other henchmen fired his way. At the next opening, he quickly kicked the car, sending it crashing into one of the hostiles, while at the same time he threw his shield to take out another guard.

That left only one man, crouched low on the roof of a different car closer to the Institute building, and Steve swiftly headed over. He caught his shield as it rebounded back towards him, just as the man raised his gun at Steve, and Steve jumped up to kick the man off the car roof, sending the hostile flying into the building wall and knocking him out cold.

"Body armor." Steve listed promptly into his comms. "AR15s. I make 7 hostiles."

There was a cry from the Institute roof, before a man came crashing down from the rooftop, landing heavily on the top of a parked Institute car below.

"I make 5." Sam corrected as he appeared on the roof edge, and Steve glanced up just as Sonya and Wanda came flying in as well, landing on the other side of the building. Steve quickly made his way over, as Sam also turned to meet the women.

"Sam." Sonya called, and about two seconds later, Sam corrected again: "Four."

Steve ran around the building to join the two as Sam informed him after his falcon device scanned the building: "Rumlow's on the third floor."

"Wanda." Steve ordered. "Just like we practiced."

"What about the gas?" She questioned unsurely, and Steve replied shortly: "Get it out."

Steve strode swiftly towards the nearest car, breaking into a light jog as he leapt onto the edge of the car and used it to vault himself up into the air. Wanda's powers wrapped around him, keeping him elevated and lifting him higher. Steve positioned himself behind his shield, crashing it through the third floor window, Sonya next to him using her own powers.

They were immediately met by two hostiles, both wearing gas masks, and he quickly knocked one out as he slammed his shield into the man's head. Sonya dodged the other man's punch, using the brief window of opportunity to grab the man's mask and pull it away. The man gasped, before quickly trying to stop himself from breathing in the fumes. Sonya used the man's momentary distraction to hit him with her powers, sending the man flying and knocking him out as well.

Unfortunately, another two hostiles came running out of a lab, shooting at Steve. Steve quickly dived and stood behind a pillar, wincing as bullets kept ricocheting off the pillar. He quickly threw his shield, angling it so that it bounced off the pillars and the back wall to hit the closer gunman, making the man pause as he staggered in pain.

Steve took the opportunity to run out and, while catching his shield, he kicked the man, knocking him out and leaving him on the ground. He then turned to use his shield to block the bullets from the last remaining hostile, before whacking the man hard on the head with his shield and effectively taking him out.

The gas also began to dissipate at that moment as Wanda finally got control over all of the fumes, gathering it all up into a large ball of mass as she drew it out of the Institute building. The ball smashed all the windows as it flew out, and Wanda dispersed the gas harmlessly into the air, while Falcon guarded her and took out all other approaching hostiles.

Steve and Sonya ran into the main lab, hoping that he'd get there on time, but theirs hopes were dashed as he spotted the empty bio-chamber in the far side of the room. He quickly called to his team, warning them sharply: "Rumlow has a biological weapon."

"I'm on it." Nat answered promptly, and Steve also ran, looking for where Rumlow had escaped out of the Institute.

Steve and Sonya finally ran out onto a balcony on the third floor, glancing down just in time to see Rumlow, in his Crossbones suit, finish setting up a grenade gun from inside an army truck.

Nat was nowhere to be seen and Steve quickly lifted his shield as he ducked his head, blocking his body and Sonia also raised her powers as a shield to help just in time as a grenade came flying at them. It exploded against Sonya's shield, throwing them back into the building.

Steve quickly picked himself up, helping Sonya up, lifting his shield as they ran through the building, knowing Rumlow wasn't about to let him go. Sure enough, the floor exploded right behind them as Rumlow fired another grenade, driving the truck sideways against the building as he continued to try and take Steve and Sonya out.

Just as they were about to reach the other end of the building, a grenade hit the floor right beside them, the force of the resulting blast throwing him sideways and out the far end balcony window.

Steve dropped his shield as he fell down the three floors, landing on a slanted garage roof, tumbling down onto the top of a truck, and falling off onto the pavement below. He groaned in pain, before rolling over and pushing himself onto his knees through grit teeth. Sonya also landed and took a bit to recover.

"Sam." He bit out as he slowly got up, trying not to wince in pain. "He's in the main humvee heading north."

Steve groaned, but quickly moved again as well as Sonya, grabbing his shield as they began running out of the Institute. Raced through the streets, jumping onto car tops and running over the traffic as they avoided cars and pedestrians.

"I got 4, they're splitting up." Sam called suddenly over the comms.

"I got the two on the left." Nat growled, and it was clear from her tone that she was very, very pissed off. Whatever had happened with her and Rumlow before Steve had found them had made her incredibly mad.

Steve and Sonya ran up a beat later, heading for the abandoned truck. They broke through the crowd of Nigerians by running on top of another car, and rolling off to land right over the edge of the circle of people who had gathered around. Sonya lifted herself to get over the cars.

Steve glanced down, spotting the weapons jackets that he'd seen Rumlow's men wearing, lying on the street beside the truck.

"They ditched their gear." Steve informed the team, barely able to conceal his resignation as he realized how quickly this mission could go wrong if they didn't act soon. Not to mention how dangerous the situation had gotten.

Steve continued as he looked around warily: "It's a shell game now. One of them has the payload."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, a hand bomb came flying out of the crowd, latching onto his shield. Steve glanced at it, his eyes widening in shock and he quickly made his decision. As the bomb beeped, he threw his shield high up into the air, ensuring it was away from the crowd of civilians as the bomb exploded.

As soon as the shield was out of his hand and the bomb went off, something punched Steve hard in the back. Steve flew through the air, crashing through a fruit stall and landing heavily in the middle of the market plaza.

"There you are, you son of a bitch." Rumlow snarled through his mask as he cocked his heavily machined arms.

Steve raised his head as Rumlow strode towards him, and he tried to get back on his feet quickly, but Rumlow beat him to it, throwing a punch with his heavily armoured fist while shouting furiously: "I've been waiting for this!"

The punch hit Steve right in the stomach and sent him flying again towards the edge of the market. He winced as he hit a table, making it crack as he crashed through, before he rolled quickly to the side and onto his feet to meet Rumlow's next attack.

Sonya jumped in front of Steve and used her powers to throw him away.

Rumlow got up and looked at her, "Hello beautiful. Don't you look amazing. Still haven't aged a bit. Too bad you're just as self-righteous as your brother."

Sonya stood her ground, "Don't you call me that you traitor." she said as Rumlow charged at them.

Steve and Sonya dodged his next attacks, using Rumlow's brief opening to throw a kick at the man. Rumlow barely moved, the heavy armour protecting him and giving him increased strength, and Steve instead found himself flying through the air once more as Rumlow punched the side of his face, then grabbed Sonya by the throat.

Rumlow looked at Sonya as she tried to wriggle free, "Such a waste of beauty and strength." he said.

Sonya concentrated and used her powers to cause Rumlow a lot of pain in his head which made him let go of her.

Sonya recovered quickly and Steve groaned as he got back up onto his feet, barely hearing as Sam called sharply over the comms: "He doesn't have it. I'm empty."

Rumlow got a hold of Sonya again and threw her into a building.

Steve almost sighed, but he quickly dodged as Rumlow sent another punch his way. Steve backed up, avoiding Rumlow as the man continued to swing at him, the anger and hatred almost radiating off the vengeful man.

"Payload secured." Nat called, and Steve breathed in relief. It was short-lived as Rumlow managed to land a punch, sending Steve to the ground once more just as Nat added appreciatively: "Thanks, Sam."

"Don't thank me." Sam said smugly as Steve glanced up before quickly rolling away as Rumlow threw a kick down at where Steve's head had just been.

"I'm not thanking that thing." Nat said flatly, a hint of disgust in her voice, and Steve almost groaned in exasperation.

"His name is Redwing." Sonya said as she slowly and painfully got up.

"I'm still not thanking it." Nat deadpanned.

Sam argued, "He's cute. Go ahead, pet him."

"Oh, for-" Steve muttered as he rolled onto his feet and got up to stop Rumlow's next kick. He used the moment to get a punch into Rumlow's face, before dodging as Rumlow retaliated with a vengeance. The pair danced about the edges of the market, each trying to land a blow while dodging the other's fist, although now that Steve had picked up on Rumlow's fighting style, the battle was going his way.

He got another solid two punches in on Rumlow's face, before catching Rumlow's fist as the man snarled: "Come on!"

Rumlow head-butted him, forcing Steve to release his fist, and Rumlow landed another punch on Steve, making him groan as he crashed into another stall. He quickly recovered, blocking more punches and landing a few more of his own, when Rumlow caught him against the wall of a nearby building. Steve caught Rumlow's arms, crossing them as Rumlow shoved him against the wall.

"This is for you and your sister dropping a building on my face." Rumlow snarled as he leaned in on his arms. Steve's eyes widened as a knife slid out of a holder on the back of Rumlow's Crossbone wrist armour, the tip pointed close to his face.

Steve quickly dodged as Rumlow suddenly lunged with all his might, plowing the knife deep into the building wall and just missing Steve by an inch. Steve quickly grabbed Rumlow's wrist, twisting it arm and pulling Rumlow's arm around painfully.

Rumlow cried out in pain, before grunting as Steve elbowed him hard in the face, shoving Rumlow back as he pulled on Rumlow's arm. Rumlow went staggering back, causing his arm armour to wrench off and Steve tossed it aside as he faced Rumlow once more.

Rumlow simply slid another knife out of his remaining arm armour, and Steve almost sighed.

Steve dodged another swipe, grabbing Rumlow's arm and twisting it in the way Sonya had taught him. He then pulled on the armour once more as he whirled around and kicked Rumlow right in the stomach, sending the other man flying. The armour tore away and Steve tossed it aside as he strode over to where Rumlow was groaning on the ground.

Rumlow got to his knees, taking off his helmet and throwing it aside as he recognized defeat. Steve grabbed the man's head roughly, holding him in place and securing him in order to arrest the ex-STRIKE agent, but he paused. He slowly took in the grotesque mask that was now the man's face, covered in terrible burn scars. Sonya walked over to Steve and Rumlow cautiously.

"I think I look pretty good," Rumlow said between gasps as he tried to get his breath back, "all things considered," he turned to Sonya, "What do you think beautiful?"

Sonya rolled her eyes as Steve tightened his grip once more and he snapped, getting straight down to business: "Who's your buyer?"

"He knew we knew you." Rumlow answered, looking Steve right in the eye and making the super-soldier frown. "Your pal, your buddy, your Bucky."

Steve grabbed Rumlow by the front of his vest, pulling him closer as he snarled in a mix of anger and, despite himself, despair: "What did you say?"

"He remembered you." Rumlow said slowly, distinctly. He kept his eyes on Steve, a smile appearing on his face as he took in the anguish in Steve's eyes.

"I was there." Rumlow snarled, exacting his revenge on Steve better than any fighting or successful escapade could as he tortured Steve with information on Bucky. "He got all weepy about it. 'Til they put his brain back in the blender."

The blow hit Steve hard, and Steve knew Rumlow could see it. Rumlow sneered as Steve and Sonya froze, unable to move or say anything: "He wanted you to know something. He said to me, 'Please tell Rogers, when you got to go, you got to go'."

It was like time froze for Steve, and he was unable to fully process Rumlow's words as the man added in a furious snarl: "And you're coming with me."

Rumlow pulled out a trigger, and Steve's eyes widened as he finally realized what Rumlow had done and was about to do. There was no time to react, to escape, or no time for Sonya to do anything and Steve could only flinch as Rumlow pressed the trigger.

Time seemed to slow, and Steve could only berate himself in horror as Rumlow began to explode before him and the heat of the explosion started to come closer to him. All those civilians still around him, the Avengers.

But the blast stopped right there, held in a tight ball. Steve blinked before slowly turning around to see Wanda standing just on the outskirts of the market, a little behind him as she held her hands out in her effort to try and contain the blast. Her face was contorted in exertion as she tried to slow down Rumlow's explosion, but it meant that they had to watch as Rumlow slowly exploded bit by bit.

His pained cries rang out through the market as the flames from the bomb blast slowly licked their way up his body and towards his head, and Wanda's brows furrowed as she struggled to decide what to do with the bomb. She was running out of time and energy and she finally threw Rumlow up into the air, groaning as she did. She aimed high, trying to throw Rumlow up and away, but her concentration failed her at the very end.

Her arms sagged slightly, releasing Rumlow a little too soon, and he exploded right against the side of the tall apartment complex right next to the market area. Steve's eyes widened in horror as he lifted his arm against the force of the blast, felt even from down on the ground, and he and Wanda could only stare in horror as the explosion caused several floors to go up in flames.

Wanda clasped her hand to her mouth, unable to believe what she had done. She pressed her hand tightly against her face as she struggled to keep back tears, while Steve breathed in absolute horror: "Oh my..."

Sonya ran to Wanda's side and put her arms around the girl, "It's ok, it's ok." she tried to comfort her.

Steve stared up at the destroyed apartment, before calling weakly into his comms, unable to tear his eyes away from the scene above him: "Sam. We need..." he struggled to keep his breathing in check as the after-effects of the fight and the shock kicked in, "Fire and rescue, on the south side of the building."

He quickly forced himself to focus and move, and Steve broke into a run as he headed for the apartment building, saying urgently: "We got to get up here." he said to Sonya.

"Stay here" she whispered.

They ran inside, leaving a distraught Wanda as the young woman sank to her knees as her legs gave out. Her brows creased, furrowing as she struggled to keep her tears back, her hand still clamped over her mouth, aghast with her own actions. She stared up at the building, unable to look away as flames licked the sides of the destroyed floors, the sounds of people screaming from both inside and outside filling the streets.

At a similar time that day, April 17, 2016

MIT, USA

'Try to remember the kind of September.' A beautiful blonde, elderly woman, dressed in an elegant blue silk suit and with dainty pearl jewelry, sang as she played a grand piano in a lavish sitting room. 'When grass was green...'

There was a rustle from behind as an elderly gentleman pulled on his suit jacket, and the woman said firmly: "Wake up, dear."

There was a rustle from the couch as the elderly gentleman lifted the blanket covering the prone figure on the sofa. He glanced down in disgust as the young man beneath the blanket shifted, groaning a little as he rubbed his bleary eyes, and the woman added as she continued to play her piano, unperturbed: "Say goodbye to your father."

"Who's the homeless person on the couch?" The man asked his wife dryly as he buttoned up his suit jacket, and Tony finally got up, a red Santa hat planted on his head.

"This is why I love coming home for Christmas. Right before you leave town." Tony said sarcastically.

Howard Stark folded his lips angrily, and Maria cut in, not even looking back as she continued to play: "Be nice, dear. He's been studying abroad."

"Really, which broad?" Howard snapped as he faced his twenty-one year old son. "What's her name?"

"Candice." Tony shot back, staring back at his father defiantly even as the older man lifted off the Santa hat and tossed it onto the sofa in disgust.

"Do me a favour." Howard said a little sarcastically. "Try not to burn the house down before Monday."

"Okay, so it's Monday." Tony quipped. "That is good to know. I will plan my toga party accordingly."

He walked carelessly over to stand behind his mother, ignoring Howard as the old man's jaw tightened. Tony asked his mother, acting as though he didn't care: "Where're you going?"

"You father's flying us to the Bahamas for a little get away." Maria answered calmly as she continued to play her piano serenely.

"We might have to make a quick stop-" Howard added as he also walked over.

"At the Pentagon. Right?" Tony said cutting in.

He turned to look at his father with resentment, before he turned back to his mother and said in a falsely sweet tone: "Don't worry. You're going to love the holiday menu at the commissure."

Maria finally stopped playing, turning to look at her son angrily.

Tony ignored the look as he waltzed away towards the door leading to the entrance hall, and Howard said to his wife flatly, "You know, they say sarcasm is a metric for potential."

Maria folded her lips angrily while Howard said pointedly to his son's back: "If that's true, you'll be a great man some day. I'll get the bags." He added to his wife as he walked out without a backward glance at his son.

Tony folded his arms angrily as he leaned against the doorway, his own jaw locked in anger and resentment boiling inside him. Sixteen years of dismissing him had broken any relationship with his father, and since that time Tony had simply acted in the same careless attitude towards his father, knowing it irritated the man beyond belief.

"He does miss you," Maria suddenly said from her place at the piano, "when you are not here."

Tony just tightened his arms across his chest, hugging the anger and hurt. Maria watched her son, and she said seriously as she stood up: "And frankly, you're going to miss us. Because this is the last time we're all going to be together."

She walked over towards her son, grabbing her handbag from the seat beside the doorway. She turned to Tony, saying softly: "You know what's about to happen. Say something."

Tony glanced over, fighting his indecision as his father returned to the room, standing quietly in the other doorway. Maria whispered to Tony gently: "If you don't, you'll regret it."

Tony turned to stare at his mother briefly, while Howard waited with raised brows as he watched his wife and son. His brows rose even further in surprise as Tony finally blurted out quickly: "I love you, Dad."

He glanced at his father, before turning back to Maria and saying sincerely: "And I knew you did the best you could."

Maria watched her son with sad eyes before she leaned in and kissed his cheek. She left with a final gentle caress to Tony's cheek, Howard moving to follow her quietly, glancing at his son one last, loving time. Young Tony watched them go, his eyes filled with despair and regret at their last time together.

The moment froze as adult Tony appeared, dressed in a full black suit and wearing a pair of black-framed spectacles as he stood in the other doorway behind his younger self.

"That's how I wished it happened." Adult Tony said, his voice filled with regret that his younger self hadn't fully been able to express.

"By merely augmented retro framing or 'BARF'…" Adult Tony continued, before he paused.

"God, I got to work on that acronym." He muttered before continuing as he walked further into the room: "An extremely costly method, of hijacking the hippocampus to clear..." he sighed, "traumatic memories."

Tony blew out a candle on the piano, causing the whole system to shift as the simulation adjusted to the change in the setting. He continued: "It doesn't change the fact that they never made it to the airport, or the things I did to avoid processing my grief."

Tony removed his spectacles, closing the system and shutting down the simulation. He continued as the whole simulation disappeared into data-pixels: "Plus, 611 million dollars for my little therapeutic experiment."

He waved his spectacles before the crowd of students and parents. As the whole simulation completely disappeared, Tony continued with his guest lecture: "No one in the right mind would ever funded it."

He looked out towards the crowd, and as the lights came back on on the stage, he called: "Help me out. What's the MIT admission statement? 'To'…?"

'To generate," the crowd recited with him, "disseminate and preserve knowledge."

"And work with others," Tony added, "to bring to bear on the world's great challenges."

He stared out at the crowd for a moment, before continuing as he walked about the stage for his lecture: "Well, you, are the others. And quite," he alternated reading off the teleprompter and engaging with his audience, "as it kept the challenges facing you are the greatest mankind has ever known. Plus, most of you are broke."

There was general laughter at that, and Tony added: "Or, I'm sorry, rather you were."

The crowd almost blinked in unison at that statement, before jaws dropped as Tony announced: "As of this moment, every student has been made an equal recipient of the Inaugural September Foundation Grant. As in, all of your projects have just been approved and funded."

The crowd broke into applause and excited whispers and cheering shouts.

Sonya smiled from her place in the wings, having come to quietly support Tony at their alma mater. Tony declared amidst applause and cheers: "No strings. No taxes. Just... reframe the future! Starting now."

He paused, his face falling a little at the teleprompter and her heart sank as he read: 'Now, I would like to introduce the head of the foundation: Pepper Potts.'

Tony appeared to have frozen for a moment, before he finished quickly: "Go break some eggs."

The crowd clapped, no-one else realizing something was wrong.

The MIT faculty hurried over.

"That uh..." he broke off a little as Tony walked straight passed but he then ploughed on: "That took my breath away."

Tony didn't seem to hear as he numbly let the sound crew remove his mic, while the professor continued jabbering: "Tony, so generous, so much money. Wow! I... Out of curiosity and... Will any portion of that grant be made available to faculty?"

Tony just ignored the man as he walked away, The professor continued, undeterred as he followed Tony: "I know, gross, but hear me out. I have got this killer idea for a self cooking hotdog."

Tony's eye twitched before he focused on something in the distance

"Basically, chemical detonator embedded..." The professor continued, and Tony interrupted as he pointed to what he'd seen, saying abruptly: "The Restroom this way, yeah?"

"Yeah." The professor said distractedly. "Embedding in the meat shaft-"

"Mr. Stark," one of the faculty in charge of the lecture came hurrying over, interrupting the professor as she apologized to Tony, "I am so sorry about the teleprompter. I didn't know Miss Potts has canceled. They didn't have time to fix it."

"It's..." Tony muttered distractedly. "fine. I'll be right back.

He excused himself went towards the restrooms, saying blindly: "I think I… need help checking something in… my eye."

The professor called after Tony: "We'll catch up later."

* * *

Tony walked with a heavy heart towards the restrooms, just wanting to avoid people for now.

Tony paused in his thoughts as he noticed a dark-skinned woman standing before the elevators, just a few feet down from the restrooms. He noted the way she seemed to be waiting patiently, and he wandered over out of curiosity.

As Tony stood quietly to one side, leaning back slightly on his heels by the wall, the woman said quietly: "That was really sweet, what you did for the young people."

"Oh, they deserve it." Tony replied honestly. "'Cos it helps to ease my conscious."

"They say, there's a correlation between generosity and guilt." The woman acknowledged.

There was something about the way she said the last word though, a certain tone and a certain gleam in her eye, that made Tony pause.

He eyed the woman carefully from the corner of his eye as she said a little bitterly: "But, you got the money."

She turned to look at him directly as she added with thinly veiled anger and, Tony realized, despair: "Break as many eggs as you like."

He looked at her directly, meeting the woman's eyes and he saw the same overwhelming anguish in her eyes as she met his gaze evenly. She bit out: "Right?"

Tony smiled mirthlessly as he walked a little closer, glancing at the elevator. He paused, looking at the woman again questioningly before he slowly pressed the 'up' button. It clicked on, and he asked her pointedly: "Are you going up?"

"I'm right where I wanted to be." She answered flatly as she stared at him with those desolate eyes.

She then reached into her purse, digging for something and Tony reacted immediately and reflexively as he grabbed the woman's wrist, saying quickly: "Okay, okay. Hey!"

He glanced at her, and she stared back in some surprise and then defiance. Realizing his mistake, Tony slowly let go of the woman's wrist, murmuring: "I'm sorry. It's my occupational hazard."

"I work for the State department." The woman snapped, and Tony nodded. "Human resources."

Tony glanced at her in mild surprise, and she acknowledged: "I know, it's boring. But, it enabled me to raise a son."

She smiled without mirth, and her eyes filled with unshed tears as she bit out, saying each word distinctly: "I'm very proud of what he grew up to be."

She slapped the photograph she had grabbed from her purse onto Tony's chest. He glanced at it, puzzled, before looking back at the woman as she almost spat: "His name was Charlie Spencer."

Her face crumpled and she was now very close to breaking into the tears Tony had seen inside the woman from the very moment he'd noticed her.

"You murdered him." The woman whispered and Tony's head shot up to stare at her. "In Sokovia."

Tony's heart clenched, even though he tried not to react outwardly. The woman went on: "Not that it matters in the least to you."

That made Tony's façade crumble slightly, and his eyes shone with sorrow. The lines deepened on his face, his guilt aging him, but the woman didn't seem to care. Or perhaps, she didn't believe him.

"You think you fight for us." She murmured in a low voice as she fought back her own tears. "You just fight for yourself."

Tony's head twitched a little at that, but while he gaped a little, unable to think of something to say, the woman spat: "Who's going to avenge my son, Stark?"

That hit Tony hard, and it only worsened as the woman let go of the photograph. Tony clutched it in place as the woman said with angry tears and a heartbroken expression: "He's dead. And I blame you."

She turned and walked away, leaving Tony to stare after her. The triple blow of the day was taking its toll, and as he glanced down at the photograph of the smiling young man, Tony could no longer fight the waves of emotion and despair. Leaning back against the wall, he closed his eyes and bowed his head.

And Tony stayed like that for a long time, contemplating his guilt and the consequences that had arisen because of his actions. But more than anything, he thought about what he could do to make it right, only to despair as he concluded… he couldn't.

* * *

Another chapter down, please read and review.


	11. Chapter 11

Sonya, Steve and Sam sat silently on on the couch in the common room, they watched the news report.

The report was titled: 'Avengers Indictment? World reaction to violence' and it showed the explosion and subsequent medical and fire control efforts as the newsreader reported: "11 Wakandans were among those killed during a confrontation between the Avengers and a group of mercenaries in Lagos, Nigeria, last month. The traditionally reclusive Wakandans were on an outreach mission in Lagos when the attack occurred."

Sonya tightened her grip on Sam's hand as he tensed slightly as the screen switched to show King T'Chaka of Wakanda as he announced to the press: "Our people's blood is spilled on foreign soil. Not only the cause of the actions are criminals, but by the indifference of those pledge to stop them."

Steve bowed his head, and Sonya put a hand on his shoulder. But she knew this was going to be a hard blow to overcome, and her own face was filled with guilt and sorrow as King T'Chaka finished grimly: "Victory at the expense of the innocent, is no victory at all."

"The Wakanda king went on to-"

Steve cut the report, switching off the TV. The three sat in silence for a moment, before Sonya turned to face Steve.

"I should probably check on Wanda. She'll be taking this the hardest, and you know the press is especially going to focus on her for her powers."

"I know." Steve murmured as Sonya got up to head to Wanda's room.

She almost sighed as she walked closer to Wanda's room, hearing the TV inside as the newsreader said: "What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have to operate in Nigeria?"

Sonya grabbed the remote, sitting on a table by the open door, and switched off the report and placed the remote back down before folding her arms as she leant against the doorway, watching the young woman inside carefully. Wanda didn't even look over from where she was sitting cross-legged on her bed as she murmured: "It's my fault."

"That's no true." Sonya chided gently, but Wanda countered monotonously: "Then turn the TV back on, they're being _very_ specific."

She turned to look at her mentor at last, and Sonya just bowed her head as she said quietly: "I should've grabbed that bomb, I should of at least helped you."

Sonya pushed off the doorway, looking at Wanda seriously as she admitted to Wanda, deciding that honesty was the best policy: "Rumlow said 'Bucky' and... All of a sudden, I was a 16 year old kid again in Brooklyn with Steve."

She sat down beside Wanda, looking down at her hands as she said softly: "People died. It's on me."

"It's on both of us." Wanda corrected as she turned to also stare down at her hands.

Sonya glanced at the young woman, and she comforted: "This job..." She trailed off as she tried to find the right words to explain and to help Wanda. "We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn't mean everybody, but, if we can't find a way to live with that, next time... maybe nobody can be saved."

Sonya looked at her protoge to see if she understood her point. Wanda had been watching her carefully, and she looked back down at her hands thoughtfully as Sonya finished.

Wanda flinched and Sonya looked up in surprise as they heard a faint whooshing noise from the side of the room. Sonya saw, to her astonishment, that it was Vision, the android having walked right through the wall to enter the room.

"Vis," Wanda said severely as she relaxed after her fright, "we talked about this."

Sonya stared at Vision, a little stunned by the casual way Vision had entered and now explained to Wanda: "Yes. But the door was opened so I assumed..."

He trailed off as Wanda looked at him pointedly, and Vision quickly changed topics as she said hastily: "Captain Rogers wished to let Agent Rogers know when Mr. Stark was arriving."

"Thank you." Sonya answered, shaking off the shock. "I'll be right down."

Vision nodded, and then said uncertainly: "I'll... use the door."

He walked off, making to leave the room, and Sonya raised a brow. She looked back at Vision in surprise as the android added: "Oh, and apparently, he's brought a guest."

"You know who it is?" Sonya asked, cocking her head slightly as the android turned around in the doorway.

"The secretary of State." Vision replied

Vision walked out, leaving the pair inside to ponder the turn of events and what it might bring. Sonya glanced at Wanda in concern as the woman looked back down at her hands worriedly, wishing she could say something to ease her obvious tension. But she knew that they both knew the Secretary's arrival couldn't mean anything good.

* * *

"Five years ago," Secretary Ross reminisced as he stood before the gathered Avengers in the general meeting room, "I had a heart attack. I dropped right in the middle of my back swing."

He mimed holding a golf club, before he dropped his arms and stood up straight once more. He continued: "Turned out, it was the best round of my life because after 13 hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something 40 years in the army never taught me: Perspective."

He looked at each of the Avengers, most of whom were sitting around the conference table. Only Tony sat apart, leaning back in a chair in the far corner of the room as he watched Ross pensively while the elderly man continued: "The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt."

He looked to his right, where the new recruits were seated as he continued: "You have..." he paused to choose his words carefully, "fought for us. Protected us. Risked your lives."

His eyes moved across to the other side of the table, towards the three four Avengers, as he went on pointedly: "But while a great many people see you as heroes. There are some..." he looked directly at Steve, "that would prefer the word 'vigilantes'."

"And what word would you use, Mr. Secretary?" Nat asked from her place, a wry half-smile on her face as she examined Ross carefully.

"How about 'dangerous'?" Ross answered flatly and he looked directly at Sonya.

Sonya pursed her lips, also watching Ross carefully from her seat between Nat and Steve, while the Secretary continued pointedly: "What would you call a group of US-based, enhanced individuals, who routinely ignores sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind them."

Steve's face was also pensive as he glanced around the table at his team, before watching Ross once more as the man moved to show them the screen behind him. Steve placed his chin on his hand as he and the team watched while the screen opened to show a world map with several highlighted dots spanning across all the continents.

"New York." Ross listed as the screen zoomed in on the location, showing footage from the Chitauri invasion in 2012, and more specifically videos of people dying and screaming as a result of the battle… and not just from the Chitauri.

Rhodey bowed his head, averting his eyes, while Nat stiffened minutely, as the Hulk appeared, smashing into an office building as he took out some Chitauri warriors but also injured and probably killed some of the people trapped inside the building.

"Washington DC."

The screen switched to show footage of the three Helicarriers from Insight, careening into the streets as they were shorted out by the team's efforts. Sam also lowered his head while Sonya turned her head away briefly as people screamed while they ran for their lives in fear, many unable to escape being crushed by the enormous vessels.

"Sokovia."

The footage switched to show the airborne city, the edges of the city crumbling away and dropping people and buildings as it lifted into the sky. Wanda's jaw twitched as she watched her home torn apart, buildings crashing down and possibly killing hundreds. Tony bowed his head, unable to watch the consequences from his disastrous mistake.

"Lagos."

The screen switched to show the most recent mistake the team had made, and Sonya's fist clenched as the footage showed people being rushed out of the destroyed apartment floors. Medics were running everywhere as they tried to save what people they could while survivors from the explosion wailed as they tried to check on their families. The video zoomed in in particular on a young girl, lying dead amongst the rubble and flames, and Wanda finally turned her head away as well, unable to watch any more.

-Steve!- Sonya warned Steve.

"Okay." Steve finally called sternly. "That's enough."

Ross looked at the Captain sitting in the chair near the opposite head of the table for a moment before he switched the screen off.

He walked back out to address the group from the front of the table once more as he said firmly: "For the past 4 years, you operated with unlimited power and no supervision. That's an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate."

He paused, during which Nat sat up straighter and Sonya turned her head to watch Ross once more. The Secretary said slowly: "But I think we have a solution."

He held out his hand towards his attendant, accepting a thick paper packet. He placed it on the conference table, sliding it across to Wanda, as the nearest Avenger. But Sonya couldn't help but think there was another reason he'd passed it to Wanda, and not Nat.

"The Sokovia accords." Ross explained. Sonya's eyes narrowed while Wanda picked the packet up, glancing at the cover page warily as Ross continued: "Approved by 117 countries."

Rhodey frowned before he held out his hand, and Wanda slid the packet over to him. Rhodey began flipping through the packet as Ross went on, pacing around the conference table: "It states, that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead, they'll operate under the supervision of a United Nations Panel, only when and if that Panel deems it necessary."

He stopped behind Steve, looked at Sonya and then toward the Captain expectantly.

Steve said at last, his voice deceptively calm and without inflection: "The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place. I feel we've done that."

Sonya glanced at him, her hazel eyes pensive, as Ross countered pointedly: "Tell me, Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?"

Steve looked up at the other man, meeting his gaze with a hint of defiance, as Ross continued quietly: "If I misplaced a couple of 30 mega tonne nukes, you can bet there'd be consequences."

Steve looked away, staring straight ahead into empty space as Ross started to pace around once more, saying firmly: "Compromise. Reassurance. That's how the world works."

He stood back at the front of the room as he added: "Believe me, this," he pointed at the Accords, "is the middle ground."

"So, there are contingencies…?" Rhodey checked, looking up at Ross expectantly.

Ross answered in confirmation: "Three days from now, the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords."

Steve frowned, turning to glance at Tony but the other man lowered his head once more, avoiding Steve's gaze. He glanced up furtively, and Steve immediately understood his position. Tony lowered his head once more as Steve turned back to the front, his jaw tightening as he glanced down at the Accords.

"So," Ross finished as he gestured at the Avengers, "talk it over."

"And if we come to a decision you don't like?" Nat questioned before Ross left. Sonya also turned to watch Ross with sharp eyes as the man paused, glancing at the two women.

"Then you retire." He said flatly. Sonya's jaw clenched while Nat smirked mirthlessly, all of them hearing the thinly veiled warning. Ross walked out, leaving only silence behind him.

* * *

Steve sat in an armchair at the head of the coffee table in the communal lounge, reading through the Accords carefully, a frown etched permanently on his face. Sonya was sitting in the sofa to his left, Nat sitting beside the blonde woman. Vision and Wanda sat in the chaise across from the two women, while Tony sat in an armchair on Steve's left, his hand pressed over his face in irritation as Rhodey argued with Sam behind Steve.

The two men standing in an angry face-off as Rhodey finally said in exasperation: "Secretary Ross, has a Congressional Medal of Honor, which is 1 more than you have."

He pointed at Sam, who countered just as irritably: "So, let's say we agree to this thing. How long is it gonna be before they lo-jack us like a bunch of common criminals?"

"117 countries want to sign this." Rhodey cried. "117, Sam, and you're just like, 'No, it's cool'."

Sam snapped back: "How long are you going to play both sides?"

"I have an equation." Vision suddenly piped up, finally interrupting the two arguing men.

"Oh," Sam said sarcastically as Steve also lifted his head and they all turned to look at the android, "oh, this will clear it up."

Vision ignored the sarcasm as he leant forward on his arms, explaining to the group: "In the 8 years since Mr. Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of noted enhanced persons has grown exponentially. And during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commissive rate."

"Are you saying it's our fault?" Steve questioned, his eyes sharp as he watched Vision.

"I'm saying there maybe a causality." Vision explained. Sonya and Nat exchanged unhappy looks as Vision continued pointedly: "Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict... breeds catastrophe."

He glanced down briefly, his expression also unhappy as he swallowed before continuing a little bluntly: "Oversight."

Vision looked at each of them as he said firmly and sadly: "Oversight is not an idea that could be dismissed out-of-hand."

"Boom." Rhodey chimed in, looking at Sam pointedly.

The latter turned to glare at Rhodey again while Sonya pursed her lips glumly, but Nat suddenly joined in, saying with a raised brow: "Tony."

Tony lowered his hand to glance at the redhead, and Nat pointed out: "You're being uncharacteristically non-hyper verbal."

Sonya sighed while Steve said flatly: "That's because he's already made up his mind."

"Boy, you know me so well." Tony said sarcastically.

Tony stood up, saying flatly: "Actually, I'm nursing my electromagnetic headache. That's what's going on, Cap."

He walked over towards the kitchen, and Steve watched him with a frown as Tony grabbed a mug, saying irritably: "It's just pain..." He glanced into the sink. "It's discomfort…"

Tony paused, before he asked in exasperation: "Who's putting coffee grounds in the disposal?"

He slammed a hand in the sink before grabbing the coffee maker jug, saying as he turned back to face the team: "Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?"

Tony slammed the jug down on the counter as he glared out at the team, and Sonya said warningly as her head ached: "Tony."

Tony just reached into his pocket, grabbing his phone and placing it in the fruit bowl. He tapped it, making a hologram appear above the apples, showing a picture of a young man. The team frowned in confusion, and Tony said with false carelessness: "Oh, that's Charles Spencer by the way."

Steve glanced at the photograph as Tony continued flatly as he poured his coffee: "He's a great kid. Computer engineering degree. 3.6 GPA. Had a floor level gig, an Intel plan for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul, before he parked it behind a desk. See the world, maybe be of service."

It felt like someone had placed ice down Sonya's back as she realized where this was going. Nat glanced at her, while Steve's brow creased once more as Tony continued: "Charlie didn't want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn't go to Paris or Amsterdam. Sounds fun." Tony added sarcastically.

Sonya turned her head away as Tony went on agitatedly: "He decided to spend his summer, building sustainable housing for the poor, guess where, Sokovia."

He slammed the coffee jug back down as he stared at the team in anger, defiance, and despair. Vision glanced at Wanda as the woman's face fell and she bowed her head while Tony continued flatly: "He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we won't know because we dropped a building on him while we were 'kicking ass'."

Steve looked over at Sonya uneasily, seeing the tension almost rolling off her shoulders in waves. His eyes flickered back over to Tony as the man paused, running a hand down his face before he took a shaky sip of his coffee. Tony finally said firmly as he turned back to the team: "There's no decision making process here."

He walked out, leaning against the counter as he continued, staring at each of them in turn: "We need to be put in check. Whatever form that takes, I'm game. If we can't accept limitations, we're boundary-less, we're no better than the bad guys."

"Tony," Steve interjected sternly, "someone dies on you watch, you don't give up."

Sonya glanced at Steve, agreeing with him, while Tony challenged Steve: "Who said we're giving up?"

"We are," Steve pointed out as he met Tony's defiant gaze, "for not taking responsibility for our actions. These documents just shift the blame."

"Sorry, Steve, that..." Rhodey interrupted. "That is dangerously arrogant."

Steve turned to look at the other man, who had taken up a seat on the head of armchair Tony had vacated. Rhodey pointed out: "This is the United Nations we're talking about. It's not the world security council," Steve sighed, shaking his head, "it's not SHIELD, it's not HYDRA."

"No," Steve countered, "but it's run by people with agendas, and agendas change."

"That's good." Tony argued as he walked back towards the team, glaring at Steve as he pointed out: "That's why I'm here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands, I shut it down and stop manufacturing them."

"Tony." Sonya argued as she turned to face her nephew. "You chose to do that. If we sign this," he pointed at the Accords, "we surrender our right to choose. That situation and this one are totally differen."

Nat frowned as well, while Tony turned his head away, clearly disagreeing. Sonya pursed her lips while Steve asked defiantly: "What if this Panel sends us somewhere we don't think we should go? What if it's somewhere we need to go, and they don't let us?"

Steve looked at each of his team as he finished grimly: "We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own."

Sonya stood up and stood behind Steve's chair and leant against it, "I agree with Steve, what if there is a situation and have to wait for this 'board" to decide whether we should step in or not, there is going to be a lot more casualties than there would if we could step in straight away."

"If we don't do this now," Tony argued, "it's going to be done to us later."

Steve's jaw clenched in anger, and Tony pointed out: "That's a fact. That won't be pretty."

"You're saying they will come for me." Wanda pointed out flatly, but Vision answered quietly and firmly: "We will protect you."

"With me, they will get nowhere near you. I will make sure of that Wanda." Sonya said protectively.

Wanda glanced at Vision in surprise and gratitude, and he met her gaze evenly, then she looked back at Sonya to give a warm smile.

Sam interjected, completely exasperated: "So, what, we lie down and let them walk over us because we're afraid of what they'll do later? Since when do we cave to pressure?"

"Maybe Tony's right." Nat piped up suddenly.

Sonya's lips thinned even further while Sam stared at Nat in disbelief as the redhead looked directly at Steve, saying gently: "If we have one hand on the wheel we can still steer. If we take it off-"

"Aren't you the same woman who told the government to kiss your ass a few years ago?" Sam questioned flatly as he stood next to Sonya who tried not to laugh, while Steve pursed his lips.

"I'm just... I'm reading the terrain." Nat answered carefully as she looked at Sonya, clearly wary of the division amongst the team's opinions. She pointed out: "We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back."

"I'm sorry," Tony suddenly cut in as he leaned forward to stare at Nat incredulously, "did I just mishear you or did you agree with me?"

"Oh, I want to take it back." Nat moaned as she glanced at Tony.

"No, no, no. You can't retract it." Tony countered quickly.

"Oh, come on." Sam argued. "This isn't winning trust, this is bowing our heads meekly and doing what others tell us to do."

Sonya's lips curved down as she saw Steve's face fall when he checked a message that came through, and she chewed her lip as Steve said abruptly: "I have to go."

He got up, not meeting any of their eyes as he walked out. Nat glanced at Sonya worriedly, her concern growing as she saw the sadness in her eyes, asking softly: "Everything okay?"

"I don't know." Sonya admitted before she also got up.

"Excuse me." She murmured as she also left the room, the other Avengers watching her with a mixture of concern and curiosity, but none of them made any move to stop her as she walked out after her brother.

"Steve?" Sonya asked softly as she stepped out into the stairwell, noting the blond man standing at the bottom, leaning against the railing with his head in his hand. Steve glanced up, his face so full of pain that Sonya's heart clenched and she quickly made her way down.

"Steve? What's wrong?" She asked worriedly, and he answered quietly:

He quietly answered, "Peggy's gone."

Sonya's heart dropped, tears starting to well up in her eyes, "Oh shit", before she quickly reached out to hug Steve. His arms wrapped around her shakily.

Sonya's grip tightened around him as Steve buried his head into her shoulder, either moving as both their hearts clenched and the unspoken tension weighed heavily down on them.

Sonya felt her phone vibrate, she knew it was someone letting her know about Peggy also.

 _London, England_

Sonya stood in the front pew beside Sam with his hand around her waist providing support, watching as the church choir sang a beautiful, sorrowful song to mark Peggy's passing and Steve held the front right-hand corner of the coffin, carrying it with stiff steps down the center of the church. Tears shone in her eyes and she bowed her head when the coffin was laid out in the front, trying to swallow the pain as she stared at the union flag wrapped carefully around the coffin.

Steve moved back to stand beside Sonya, taking her hand as he too stared at the coffin and the picture to one side of the coffin. It showed the Peggy he had known, back in her army days, and standing exactly as he remembered her- tall and proud as she stared out into the distance and towards the brighter future she believed in.

He swallowed as they all sat down at the end of the song, Sonya squeezing his hand.

Steve just sat in silence as the funeral went on, barely moving until it finally came to an almost close.

"And now," the priest said gently, "I would like to invite Sharon Carter, to come up and say a few words."

Sonya looked up, while Steve didn't react. She nudged him gently, and he glanced at her before looking up towards the speaker pedestal at her nod. Steve blinked as he recognized the blonde woman, Agent 13 and his ex-SHIELD neighbor. Steve glanced back at Sonya, completely taken aback and noting the lack of surprise on her face.

 _How did she know?_ Steve wondered, before turning his attention back to Sharon as the woman began to speak, after smiling a little at Sonya and giving Steve a rueful look.

"Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of SHIELD." Sharon began, sounding nervous. "But I just knew her as Aunt Peggy."

Steve blinked before glancing at Sonya again. Sonya just gestured quietly towards Sharon, and they listened carefully as Sharon continued: "She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool. But, it was a lot to live up to. Which is why I barely told anyone we were related."

She glanced at Sonya again, and the blonde woman gave a rueful smile. Steve glanced between them questioningly, but refocused on Sharon as she went on: "I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage at a time when no one wanted to see a woman succeed at either."

Sharon swallowed before she continued, her voice becoming stronger: "And she said, 'Compromise where you can. But when you can't, don't. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move, it is your duty, to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, "No...you move."

Steve's face was pensive as the words hit home. Sonya's face was harder to read as she looked down, hiding her eyes from Steve while her stomach twisted and her heart clenched.

* * *

"How'd you know?"

Sonya glanced up at Steve as he finally spoke, breaking the silence. She then turned back to stare at Peggy's picture, still at the front of the church. The ceremony had ended a while ago, but the pair had stayed behind. Sam had left them to have a moment in privacy, and they had used it to say their silent farewells to one of the greatest people they had ever known.

"I helped trained her and I promised Peggy I would keep an eye on her." Sonya answered quietly.

Steve glanced at Sonya from the corner of his eye before he turned back to staring at Peggy's picture, and Sonya continued softly: "She came to tell me about Peggy's worsening condition."

There was a moment's silence, and Sonya added: "You should talk to her; I know she wanted someone else to talk with about Peggy besides me."

Steve nodded once, and they lapsed into silence once more, both avoiding the inevitable conversation.

Nat quietly walked in and up to the pair.

Finally, Steve murmured: "So? What happened after Sam and I left?" Nat sighed.

"The team… made their own choices." She said quietly, and Steve nodded shortly.

"Who signed it?" Steve asked softly, and Sonya

Nat listed: "Tony, Rhodey…Vision, after another day of debating."

Steve glanced at Nat, the question plaguing his mind but he asked instead: "Clint?"

"Said he's retired." Sonya replied, noting Steve's questioning gaze and purposefully not answering.

"…Wanda?" Sonya asked.

"TBD." Nat answered.

There was another silence for a moment, before Steve finally asked aloud: "And you?"

Nat sighed once more as she turned back to the man beside her.

* * *

Steve, Sonya and Sam walked Sharon back to her hotel, Sam striking up a conversation with the blonde woman while Steve just followed quietly. As they approached the hotel, however, Sam excused himself, claiming to need to use a restroom while he shot Steve a look.

Sonya hugged Sharon, her former protege and also excused herself heading to the bar, Sam met here there once done in the restroom.

Steve raised a brow- clearly Sonya had spoken to Sam- as Sam disappeared, which did not surprise him before he turned to Sharon.

Sharon had been watching him a little uneasily, but as Steve met her gaze evenly she seemed to relax slightly, and she began lightly: "My mom tried to talk me out of enlisting, but, um... not Aunt Peggy."

She gave Steve a wry grin as she added: "She brought me my first thigh holster."

"Very practical." Steve commented, and Sharon said a little teasingly: "And stylish. Sonya used the same one. Well, not the _same_ one," she added quickly, "just, you know, the same type."

Steve just answered with a small smile, before he asked curiously as he looked around the hotel: "CIA has you stationed around here now?"

"In Berlin," Sharon explained, "joint terrorist and task force."

"Right." Steve said, not knowing what else to say. "Sounds fun."

"I know, right?" Sharon chuckled. "Sonya said the same thing when I told her."

Steve paused, before he began slowly: "I've been meaning to ask you."

Sharon looked at him expectantly, and Steve asked: "When you were spying on me from across the hall-"

"You mean when I was doing my job?" Sharon corrected, smiling a little, but Steve asked seriously: "Did Sonya and Peggy know?"

Sharon paused, examining Steve for a moment before she shook her head.

"Aunt Peggy and your sister kept so many secrets. I didn't want Aunt Peggy to have any from you." She explained, and Steve nodded but waited.

Sharon gave him a wry smile as she answered the rest of his question: "Sonya knew, of course because he trained me. She is a ball breaker, that's for sure."

"Yeah, she told me about that today." Steve muttered.

Sharon looked up at him sharply, before she said softly: "Captain, Sonya was a spy. We learnt to keep secrets, even from those we loved, to keep them safe or protect somebody else. It will be the same for Sonya."

"I know." Steve replied, his voice firmer. Because he did know, and he understood what that was like. Perhaps a little too well.

Sharon smiled a little, and then she added: "Thanks for walking me back."

"Sure." Steve replied lightly, before blinking a little in surprise when Sharon added: "And your friend."

Steve blinked, not sure what to say to that.

"Uh…" He began, making Sharon grin, when Sam suddenly called: "Steve."

The pair turned, Steve's brow furrowing worriedly as he heard the seriousness in Sam's tone. Sam walked back towards them, his face grim as he told Steve: "There's something you got to see."

* * *

The trio stood in Sharon's hotel room after Sam had relayed the terrible news Tony had relayed to him over the phone. They watched the news broadcast of the incident, Sam leaning on the back of the couch where Sonya sat on the edge of while Steve waited anxiously on his phone and Sharon paced behind as she talked quietly to her own phone.

"A bomb hidden in a news van, blast through the UN building in Vienna." The reporter informed grimly. "More than 70 people have been injured. At least 12 are dead. Including Wakanda's King T'Chaka. Officials have released a video of a suspect, identified as James Buchanan Barnes, the Winter soldier."

Steve stiffened as the screen showed a fuzzy video of the suspect, highlighting the face which did bear an uncanny resemblance to his former best friend. Sonya clasped her hand over her mouth. Sam put a hand on Sonya's shoulder and also glanced at the Captain as the reporter continued: "The infamous HYDRA agent, linked to numerous acts of terrorism and political assassinations-"

Sharon joined the trio as she finally hung up her own phone, and she murmured quietly: "I have to go to work."

* * *

Steve glanced out across the street once more, before he dialed a different number.

"Yeah?" Nat answered almost immediately, and Steve checked: "Are you alright?"

Nat snorted, making him raise his brow slightly.

Nat paused uneasily before she murmured to Steve quietly: "I know how much Barnes mean to you. I really do. Stay at home. You'll only make this worse for all of us. Please."

"Are you saying you'll arrest me?" Steve asked, bordering on challenging her.

"No." Nat answered firmly.

She seemed to hesitate, as though she was cringing from the very thought, before she added grimly: "Someone will, if you interfere. That's how it works now."

Steve sighed, shaking his head even though Nat couldn't see him. He answered just as firmly as Nat had: "If he's this far gone, then I should be the one to bring him in."

He glanced furtively back across the street to where he could just see the destruction around what was left of the UN building and where Nat was standing up from the bench she had been sitting at when Steve had called.

"Why?" Nat demanded, not aware of his close proximity as she frowned deeply, and Steve replied flatly: "Because I'm the one least likely to die trying."

"Steve-" Nat began, but he hung up.

Steve went back into the cafe and stopped next to Sam and Sonya, Sonya asked, "Did she tell you to stay out of it?" as she felt her phone vibrate. She checked it and saw it was Nat so she declined the call. She would have been given the same speech.

Again, Steve didn't reply, his face a stoic mask of determination. Sam sighed, and he tried: "She might have a point."

"He'd do it for me." Steve answered flatly.

"1945, maybe." Sonya pointed out. "I just want to make sure we considered all our options. Cause the people that shoot at you, usually wind up shooting at us."

Sam lapsed into silence as Steve looked over at his friend and his sister. Steve then glanced back to his other side as Sharon returned from checking in with her team at the bomb site, saying quietly: "Tips have been pouring in since the footage went public. Everybody thinks the Winter soldier goes to their gym. Most of it is noise, except for this."

She slid an envelope across the bar to Steve, and he took it furtively as Sharon continued: "My boss expects a briefing pretty much now, so that's all the answer you're going to get."

Sam glanced down at the file and then back at Sharon as the woman warned the two of them, "And you're going to have to hurry. We have orders to shoot on sight."

Sharon left, sending one last look at the trio as she did. Steve bowed his head briefly as he examined the envelope before he opened it and took out the papers filed inside.

"So," Sam murmured, "where are we going?"


	12. Chapter 12

_Bucharest, Romania_

Steve walked through the small flat warily, his shield attached to the magnets on his left arm. He glanced around the somewhat untidy room, taking in the newspapers covering all the windows, and the lone mattress in one corner of the room with a thin blanket and one single pillow laid in the exact centre of the top. Just like in the army. Sonya was also in the apartment looking at various things.

Something else caught his attention, and Steve wandered over towards the fridge, gently pulling a small notebook out from under a few candy bars. He opened it carefully just as Sam said over the ear comms: "Heads up, German special forces approaching from the south." he warned them.

Steve examined the picture inside the notebook as he replied absently: "Understood."

Sonya froze when she saw him and said to Steve telepathically ' _Steve, turn around slowly -_

Steve tensed as he suddenly felt another presence behind him, and he turned quickly to see Bucky standing by the mattress, watching Steve carefully. Steve slowly lowered the notebook as he faced Bucky fully, taking in the unclean shaven state of his old friend, his face partially hidden by a dark blue cap. Sonya near the end of the bench looking at Bucky.

"Do you know us?" Steve asked carefully.

Bucky was eyeing him just as warily, and he finally answered monotonously: "You're Steve. I read about you in a museum," He looked at Sonya, "I have a feeling I know you very well"

He jerked his head at the notebook to add to his point, and Steve examined the other man.

Sam called sharply: "They've set the perimeter."

Steve didn't respond, saying to Bucky carefully: "I know you're nervous." He slowly placed the notebook down on the counter beside him as he continued: "And you have plenty of reason to be."

Steve looked Bucky straight in the eye as he said firmly: "But you're lying."

Bucky seemed to weigh that, and he finally admitted flatly: "I wasn't in Vienna, I don't do that anymore."

"They're entering the building." Sam called urgently, and Sonya glanced at the covered windows before saying to Bucky quickly: "Well, the people who think you did are coming here now. And they're not planning on taking you alive."

"That's smart." Bucky answered, nodding slightly with some appreciation despite the situation. "Good strategy."

Bucky's stance also tensed, his flickering about the flat. Steve's fist clenched slightly as Sam called: "They're on the roof. I'm compromised."

Steve also glanced about, but he refocused on Bucky as he tried to persuade the man quietly: "This doesn't have end in a fight, Buck."

Bucky walked slowly over to the front door, and he looked Steve in the eye as he answered flatly: "It always ends in a fight."

"Five seconds." Sam cried urgently, and Steve demanded of Bucky, feeling the pressure: "You pulled us from the river. Why?"

Bucky pulled off the glove hiding his metal hand. He stared down at it pensively as he told Steve quietly: "I don't know."

"Three seconds!" Sam called, but Steve ignored him as he told Bucky firmly: "Yes, you do."

Sonya readied herself to either attack the incoming or use her powers looking between the door and the window near the bed.

"Breach!" Sam cried, and both Steve and Bucky whipped their heads to the windows on the other side of the flat as a hand grenade smashed into the room. "Breach! Breach!"

Steve smacked the grenade away, making it burst harmlessly against his shield just as another grenade came flying through another window, rolling onto the ground beside Bucky. Bucky quickly kicked it towards Steve, and Steve crouched down immediately, slamming his shield over the bomb and letting it go off harmlessly beneath it.

There was a shout from outside the front door where Sonya was holding it using her powers, and then a crash as they smashed a battering ram on the locked door knocking Sonya back.

Steve quickly lifted his shield again as Bucky turned around, grabbing the mattress and used it as a shield as a gun fired from the windows opposite the door. Steve ducked for cover behind the counter as the front door rattled once more as the battering ram smashed against it.

Bucky glanced at the door before grabbing a small metal table and throwing it, wedging the table between the wall and the door in an attempt to slow down the door breaking off its hinges.

There was another crash as a heavily armoured German task soldier swung in through the kitchen window while another jumped in through the flat window.

Bucky punched the soldier closest to him while Steve quickly pulled the rug out from under the other soldier's feet, causing the man to come crashing down on the kitchen tiles before he could shoot at Bucky. Bucky knocked out the soldier he'd been fighting as the back door broke open, and Steve quickly stood up, grabbing the soldier's gun.

He pulled the gun, holding it away from his face, and Sonya ran over to kick the soldier out the door. The man went flying away, falling down several floors, and Sonya quickly grabbed Bucky's arm before the man could run out the door.

"Buck, stop!" Steve shouted, and Bucky whirled around, twisting his arm as he faced Sonya and Steve.

Sonya held on tight as he insisted: "You're gonna kill someone."

Bucky simply wrenched his arm, throwing Sonya around in the air and freeing his arm as Sonya crashed onto the ground. Bucky punched down, hard, and Sonya quickly dodged the blow, Bucky's hand going right through the wood… beside where Steve's head had been.

"I'm not gonna kill anyone." Bucky said grimly, pulling a black backpack out of the ground from where it had been hidden beneath the floorboards. Steve stared numbly, shocked by Bucky's admission, and Bucky stared back even as he threw his backpack out the door, making it land heavily on the roof of the building one block over.

Another soldier swung into the flat, quickly beginning to fire at Bucky. Bucky used his metal arm to block the bullets and Steve quickly jumped up as well, holding up his shield and covering them. Another soldier appeared at the kitchen windows, firing at them, and Steve quickly turned to block those bullets.

He suddenly found himself launching threw the air as Bucky pushed him, hard, and Steve crashed into the soldier, knocking the man down while he himself toppled out of the window and landed heavily on the balcony. Steve quickly grabbed the man's gun as he tried to lift it and fire at him, wrestling with the soldier as the man fought to try and get a clear shot at Steve.

Steve punched the soldier in the head, knocking him out before quickly running back into the flat. The whole place was a mess, several soldiers lying unconscious on the ground, but what drew Steve's attention was the empty doorway and the sounds of fighting coming from the stairwell outside. He ran out to see the door broken into pieces outside and a hole punched through the wall beside the doorway.

Steve quickly looked over the stair railings to see Bucky fighting his way down the steps, before Steve realized someone was speaking rapid German right behind him. He glanced over to see a wounded soldier shouting into his walkie-talkie, and he quickly grabbed the communications device. The soldier stared at him as Steve simply crushed the device with one hand as he glared at the man.

The soldier's mouth fell open but Steve didn't care as he ignored the man and jumped over the railings. He landed on the landing right below Bucky's floor and Sonya followed using her powers to glide her down, just above where Bucky was locked a fistfight with more German soldiers. She was caught between two floors, and was trying to punch her way out as the soldiers surrounded her.

Steve leapt onto the landing just below Bucky, just as Bucky whacked a soldier hard in the jaw, sending the man reeling over the edge of the stair rails. Steve quickly spun around to grab the man as he fell passed, causing the falling soldier to come to a jerking stop in the middle of the stairwell, a couple floors off the ground below.

Steve glanced over at his friend, and as their eyes met, he gasped out in exasperation: "Come on, Man."

Bucky just grit his teeth before jabbing his elbow sharply into the face of another soldier. Steve hauled the soldier he was holding back over the railings, throwing him heavily into the wall and knocking the man out. He then grabbed another soldier's gun as the man tried to point it at him, while Bucky broke away the stair railings and used it to swing down onto the floor below.

Steve almost sighed, before he refocused, grabbing another soldier's gun as the man tried to aim around his caught comrade. Steve used his grip on the guns to twist the men's arms around, shoving them heavily against the wall and forcing them to drop their guns. He noted a cable and clip on one of the soldiers, and quickly pulled it out, snapping the clip onto the other soldier before throwing the man over the railings.

The man cried out, only to jerk to a stop as the cable still attached to his comrade pulled him short. Steve left the two, running down the stairs and throwing his shield into one of the soldiers as the man aimed his gun at Bucky. His shield wedged itself into the wall and Steve briefly met eyes with Bucky as the other man glanced at him before Bucky jumped over the edge of the railings, going into free fall in the centre of the stairwell before he grabbed onto the railings about ten floors below.

He groaned with exertion, but quickly hauled himself up as Steve ran to grab his shield. Steve ran down one flight of stairs before running out a side passageway and onto the balcony, spotting Bucky on the rooftop across the block, having lost his cap, fighting a man in a black, cat-like suit.

Steve's eyes widened as Bucky was thrown to the ground, barely blocking his attacker, and he looked around quickly for a way down. He spotted a flying figure appear around the far corner of the building, and he called sharply as he backed up in the passageway: "Sam, south-west rooftop."

"Who the hell is the other guy?" Sam demanded, and Steve answered shortly: "I'm about to find out."

Sonya lifted herself over to the other rooftop with her powers and landed near Bucky and his attacker.

With that, Steve dashed forward, jumping onto the balcony railing and launching himself off the side of the building. He landed on the edge of the roof and tumbled forward onto the roof, rolling to his feet and taking off immediately towards Bucky. Steve saw that the man was dressed indeed in a full cat-suit, complete with a black mask. He looked almost like a powerful panther, and Steve could see sharp metal claws at the end of the man's fingers as Bucky struggled to keep the man's dangerous hands away from his face.

Steve and Sonya ducked as bullets rained down onto the roof, aimed at Bucky and his attacker. Steve was surprised when the bullets simply bounced off the mystery man's suit, and the man turned to look at the German taskforce helicopter as it flew in overhead.

Steve and Sonya also spotted the helicopter, and she called: "Sam."

"Got it." Sam replied swiftly as he flew in on the helicopter, effectively disabling the rear enough for the helicopter to make an emergency but safe landing. Steve and Sonya turned in time to see Bucky use their momentary distraction to kick his attack off, spinning quickly to snatch his backpack before he took off across the roof.

They ran after him as Bucky's attacker did the same, following closely behind as Bucky leapt over the side of the roof. Steve reached the roof edge to see Bucky jumping down off the landing just below the edge of the roof, dropping in free fall while the mysterious man dug his claws into the side of the walls and skid all the way down after Bucky.

Sonya grabbed Steve by his uniform and jumped down after them, going straight down as Bucky ran, the mysterious man following closely behind. Sonya used her powers to softly land to lessen the impact, and took off after Bucky.

Another helicopter flew in, firing at Bucky and his two pursuers. Steve and Sonya was still a little further behind and so he ran on as the mystery man was forced to swerve slightly to avoid the bullets. Bucky simply ran to the side, jumping through an open area and down right into the middle of a highway tunnel.

The siblings and the other man quickly followed, dropping down in the middle of the speeding cars and chasing Bucky as Bucky ran for his life down the middle of the highway. The three men and woman ran at similar speeds, keeping up and overtaking many of the cars that sped down the road.

German special police taskforce cars came chasing after them, a commanding voice shouting as it caught up with Steve: "Stand down! Stand down!"

Steve glanced at the car, and as it came up beside him, he leapt at it, jumping to smack his shield down on the windshield. The windshield cracked and the car skid to a halt as the driver hit the breaks in alarm. Steve quickly tumbled off the car hood and dashed to the driver's door, opening it and pulling the driver out.

He threw the man to the side, the police officer landing heavily on the road beside the car as Steve punched the windshield out completely before taking off in the car. He sped even faster, swerving amongst the other cars in his larger, black SUV and overtaking the panther-like man.

But the man noticed Steve, and quickly jumped onto the back of a different car before launching himself onto Steve's car. Steve glanced back as something hit the back of his car, and he saw the man's claws embedded in the boot. Steve glanced into his side mirror to see the man clinging onto the left side of his car, hanging on at the back, and Steve swerved sharply in an effort to shake the man off.

But no matter which way he swerved, the man managed to cling on, and as Steve swerved around one more car, the man used the momentum to swing up onto the roof of Steve's stolen car.

"Sam, I can't shake this guy." Steve called into his comms, and Sam answered swiftly: "Right behind you."

Steve drove on, waiting impatiently, and then glanced back as he heard more police sirens from behind. He glanced in his side and rearview mirrors to more police cars coming up from behind. Steve then glanced to the side to see another special taskforce car pulling up slowly beside him and he quickly swerved to smash his car against the other.

It jerked, but remained on course as Bucky's mysterious attacker swung about wildly on top of Steve's car. Steve smashed his car into the other car once more, this time throwing it off course. He then glanced forward to see another posse of police cars coming in from the front of the tunnel. Steve spotted Bucky swiftly changing course into the other highway lanes, and Steve didn't hesitate as he broke through the barriers to drive onto the other side of the highway, both chasing Bucky and avoiding the police blockade ahead.

They left a police car blockade as the other cars were forced to brake to avoid colliding into each other, giving them some time to escape. Cars honked at Steve as they swerved away while Steve drove against the traffic. His eyes widened as Bucky suddenly ducked to one side, and then he groaned as he saw Bucky whack a man off of his motorbike.

Bucky used his metal arm to swing the still roaring bike up into the air, jumping up as well and using the momentum to turn the bike around, before he landed upright on the bike, facing the opposite direction from the traffic and Bucky sped off. Steve chased closely behind, stomping on the accelerator to keep up with the motorbike.

Sonya flying to keep up with Bucky.

Bucky swerved back onto the right side of the highway, and Steve followed, slowly gaining on Bucky as the pair swerved through the other cars. Steve glanced back as there was a loud thump from the roof, and he watched in horror as the mystery man leapt across the car roof, landing on the hood of Steve's car, before launching himself off and towards Bucky.

Steve grit his teeth, his shoulders tensing as he watched Bucky stop the attack, lifting one arm off the bike to grab the other man's neck and keep him at arm's length. The man simply grabbed Bucky, hanging on before Bucky could throw him, before he stepped onto the side of the tunnels, running along the edges to jump over Bucky's head and push Bucky to the side.

The force of the push shoved Bucky's bike to the side, causing Bucky to throw out his left arm, using the metal to keep himself up and avoid crashing the bike. The mysterious man leapt up, his claws raised to strike down on Bucky's exposed right side, but Bucky lifted his feet off the bike to quickly kick the man away.

The man tumbled off, and Steve quickly avoided the stranger, swerving away before he accidentally hit the man. He sped up after Bucky as the latter straightened the bike back up and took off even faster. Steve heard a grunt from Sam over the comms, and he glanced into his rear mirrors.

Steve almost groaned in annoyance as he saw that the mystery attacker had latched onto Sam, hanging onto Sam as the Falcon flew in above the traffic and towards Steve. The man jumped onto Sam's back, clawing his way towards Sam's head.

Steve glanced forward once more, and his eyes widened as Bucky threw a grenade to the edge of the tunnel. It exploded as Bucky exited the tunnel, and Steve slammed his feet on the brakes, causing his car to swerve to the side. Sam had also swung up, cutting his flight short. The abrupt stop had caused the masked man to fly over his head, and the man used the momentum to propel himself at Bucky's bike.

Steve's leapt out of his still moving car, rolling forwards and through the collapsing tunnel roof, quickly landing on his feet and breaking into a run as Bucky's attacker hooked his claws into Bucky's back wheel. Bucky was also thrown off his bike, and he and his attacker tumbled as Steve raced towards them and away from his car as it crashed into the rubble Bucky had caused.

The speed it had been going at made the car overturned on the roof debris, flying over the rubble. Bucky, his attacker rolled quickly away as Steve followed, the car coming crashing down where they had been seconds before, tumbling over as it skid to a stop at last. A bit of debris had hit Sonya as she flew towards Bucky and she landed hard on the ground.

None of the men cared as Bucky's attacker leapt up and at Bucky once more.

Bucky quickly lifted his metal arm to block the blow, and Steve jumped, lunging at the mystery man and grabbing his side as he tackled him to the ground. Steve threw the man to the side, and the man used his claws to quickly regain his footing on the road a few feet away. Steve leapt to his feet, his shield raised and ready, and the attacker stood up menacingly as Bucky also got to his feet warily.

Sonya had landed in front of Steve and Bucky with her powers swirling around her hands as they all paused as police cars finally caught up with the four, the police forming a tight circle around the entire tunnel area and surrounding the trio. Steve raised a hand to stop Bucky as the man took a step towards his attacker, hearing more police cars coming from behind and another helicopter flying above the road.

The mystery man also straightened out of his fighting stance, sensing defeat. Steve glanced up as he heard something coming swooping in, and soon War Machine landed heavily right between the three men. Rhodey pointed his outstretched hands at Bucky and the mystery man, his lasers fired up and ready, while a machine gun popped up from his shoulder armour to point at Steve.

"Stand down. Now." Rhodey ordered giving a stern look at Sonya.

Sonya's powers disappeared from around her hands and stood up straight still in front of Bucky.

Steve glanced around as he heard German orders being shouted from the police, eyeing the many soldiers pointing their guns firmly at him, Bucky, and their masked companion. The man in question also glanced around warily, before backing down visibly.

Steve also lowered his arm, placing his shield back on his back as Rhodey said sarcastically: "Congratulations, Captain, Sonya. You're criminals."

Steve raised his hands in surrender as Bucky let his arms hang loosely to his side, clearly wary of making any move. Rhodey turned his head away from Steve to look at the masked man expectantly as the German police ran forward, swarming the three men and quickly surrounding Bucky.

They grabbed Bucky, forcing him to his knees as they wrapped heavy cuffs all around the man to ensure safe containment.

"Bucky!" Sonya called out and he just looked at her.

Sam also came out with his arms up in surrender, his wings folded into their pack as police officers stepped forward to arrest him as well.

"Sam, are you ok?" Sonya asked while she was being cuffed with special cuffs designed to surpress her powers.

"I'm fine babe, are you?" Sam asked as the police walked him up to the others.

"Yeah, pissed but I'll manage" she said glaring at the cops roughly held Bucky into the ground.

The mystery man lifted his hands in surrender, Steve watching him carefully even as an officer came to cuff his hands behind his back.

The man retracted his claws, before slowly moving his hands to remove his mask. They all blinked in shock as the mask fell away to reveal the new Wakandan King, T'Challa, and the German soldiers called out to their superiors, wondering how to react to this development.

Steve stared, completely stunned as T'Challa stared back with a mix of anger and disappointment.

He then glanced at Rhodey, who slowly broke out of his own surprise to say flatly: "Your highness."

T'Challa lowered his eyes, glancing at Bucky as the man was held flat against the ground while the heavy cuffs were placed around him, before looking back at Steve with furrowed brows and a grim expression. Steve met his eyes, staring back defiantly even as the handcuffs were locked onto his arms.

* * *

An entire police task force sped down the streets, closely guarding the heavily armoured truck that carried the plexi-glass cage that held Bucky. Steve, Sam, Sonya and T'Challa rode in the back of a police van behind the truck, all three back in civilian clothes. They sat in silence for most of the trip, T'Challa in the front row while Steve sat in the middle with Sam and Sonya sat at the back.

"So, you like cats?" Sam asked at last, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Sam." Steve warned.

"What? Dude shows up dressed like a cat and you don't wanna know more?" Sam replied back.

Steve glanced back, and then at T'Challa. He hesitated before asking: "Your suit. It's Vibranium?"

T'Challa glanced back briefly before he said quietly: "The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations. A mantle passed from warrior to warrior. And now because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king."

He paused, before he said warningly: "So I ask you, as both warrior and king," he glanced back at Steve, "how long do you think you can keep your friend safe from me?"

"As long as it takes" Sonya said sternly as the King just glances at her.

Steve met his eyes briefly, before turning away and looking out of the window. They once again lapsed into silence as they reached their destination, heading into the heavily guarded compound that was the CIA base in Berlin.

"Should I be worried that you are this protective over him" Sam whispered.

Sonya looked at him, "Not at all, I always saw him as a brother and I look after family and people I love. If you were in the same situation I would be the same way, maybe even worse." she explained as she put her head on his shoulder. He rested his head on hers.

As they arrived and they stepped out of the van, Steve and Sonya spotted Bucky in his cage.

His entire body was clasped in heavy manacles, keeping him locked in a sitting position in the centre of the cage as several soldiers droved the cage off in a small forklift. Bucky glanced over at siblings, before looking away as he was taken off in a separate direction, and Steve turned to see Sharon standing with three guards beside a well-dressed man that was clearly her boss.

Steve and Sonya strode over to the man, "What's going to happen?" Sonya demanded.

"The same thing that ought to happen to you." The man answered equally as flatly. "Psychological evaluation and extradition."

"This is Everett Ross," Sharon introduced meekly, "deputy task force commander."

Steve didn't even acknowledge the introduction as he looked right at Ross and asked firmly: "What about a lawyer?"

"Lawyer," Ross snorted, "that's funny." He smiled mirthlessly, before he ordered his guards:

"See to their weapons are placed in the lock up. Oh, we'll write you a receipt." He added mockingly.

Steve glanced to the side as their guards from the van carried off his shield and Sam's suit and wing pack. Sam snarled as he watched his suit being taken away: "I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that."

Ross didn't bother to answer as he simply turned, walking off and clearly expecting them to follow. The three men did so, Steve looking back over his shoulder once last time, staring at Bucky. Bucky had been watching them, and his eyes met Steve's just as heavy doors closed on him, locking him somewhere.

"You will be provided with an office instead of a cell." Ross told them as he led them down a glass walkway above the Spree river which linked the one office building to another across the river. The view would have been incredible, if not for the seriousness of the situation, and the many guards flanking them.

Ross added as they walked: "And do me a favour, stay in it."

Steve glanced up from Ross as he saw a familiar redhead walking towards them. Nat's face was a cold mask as she strode down the walkway towards the group, while T'Challa answered Ross flatly: "I'm not intending on going anywhere."

"For the record." Nat snapped as she joined Steve and did an about turn to walk beside him. "This is what making things worse looks like."

"He's alive." Steve answered shortly, not looking at her as he walked.

"At what cost?" Nat snarled.

That made Steve glance at her, but she just glared before she walked quicker, pulling ahead of the group as they reached a large security office.

Ross left them as Nat led the way in, and Steve could hear Tony's voice from inside as Tony insisted: "The remaining of us are now at court-section."

Steve saw Tony standing in the centre of the office, talking into his phone with his back to the door as he added: "And, Colonel Ross is supervising the clean up."

Nat snapped at Steve and Sam as the two men paused in the doorway and she walked on into the office: "Try not to break anything while we fix this."

Tony turned to face them, his face set in a heavy frown as he snapped into his phone: "Consequences? You bet there will be consequences."

Tony continued to rage into his phone: "Obviously you can quote me on that because I just said it. Anything else? Thank you, sir."

Tony walked over to Steve, who moved his eyes to face the other man. He repeated: "Consequences?"

"Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted." Tony answered, his eyes burning with suppressed anger as he turned away again, walking off towards Nat as the redhead got up again. "I have to give him something."

Tony looked at Sonya, "Really Aunt, he get you sucked in too"

"NO TONY! He didn't suck me in, Bucky is a dear friend and you know more than anyone else that I look out for family and friends" she snapped.

"I'm not getting that shield back, am I?" Steve asked sarcastically, and Nat snapped at him as she walked with Tony towards one of the smaller conference rooms to the side of the office: "Technically, it's the government's property. Wings too." She added.

"That's cold." Sam returned.

"Warmer than jail." Tony called over his shoulder flatly.

* * *

Steve watched Nat leave the room before turning back to stare at the side of the security office, which was lined with screens showing footage from various security cameras. He focused on the screen showing Bucky's containment centre, sighing as he did. He knew he'd done what was ultimately right, especially since he believed Bucky when the man admitted he hadn't been behind the Vienna bombing. But…

"Hey," Tony's voice suddenly called from the conference room doorway, "you want to see something cool?"

Steve turned in surprise to look at Tony as the billionaire walked in, holding up a small black case. Tony explained: "I pulled something from dad's archives."

Steve raised a brow, but hearing the tentative tone in Tony's voice- a clear attempt to make amends- Steve sat down in one of the conference chairs. Tony added under his breath: "Well, timely."

He tossed his expensive suit jacket onto another seat, glancing at Steve then at Sonya who was watching the screens as he opened the case and placed it on the table before Steve. Steve glanced down at the pair of gold-tipped fountain pens, snuggled in the leather case. Tony explained: "FDR signed the Land-Lease bills with these in 1941."

Steve nodded slightly, starting to see where Tony was going. Tony went on anyway, his voice soft and almost pleading: "Provided support to the allies when they needed it the most."

"Some would say it brought our country closer to war." Sonya countered without looking away from the screens.

Tony met Steve's eyes evenly as he pointed out in return: "See, if not for these, you wouldn't be here."

Steve raised his brow again, while Tony continued firmly: "I'm trying to, what do you call it?" He took the seat beside Steve. "Extend a... an olive branch. Is that what you call it?"

He looked at Steve pointedly, leaning his face against his fist as he waited expectantly. Steve pursed his lips unhappily. He did want to make amends with Tony, but he couldn't ignore what he thought was right either.

"Is Pepper here?" Steve asked tentatively, hoping to touch on an easier and happier topic with Tony. He glanced around the office as he added: "I didn't see her."

He looked back at Tony, surprised to see a strange look enter Tony's eyes- almost like regret. Steve's brows furrowed in confusion as Tony said slowly: "We are... kinda, well not kinda..."

"Pregnant?" Steve asked in surprise, wondering why Tony was rambling but hesitating to say what was actually wrong. It was the only logical explanation that Steve could think of.

"No, definitely not." Tony answered Steve's question, looking almost like he was trying to eat a sour lemon.

He paused, before he finally admitted to Steve: "We're taking a break."

Steve's face fell in understanding, and he bowed his head as Tony added quietly: "It's nobody's fault."

"I'm so sorry, Tony." Steve murmured as he glanced back at the other man apologetically. "I didn't know."

Tony almost smiled but it dropped as he said quietly: "Few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to muck up Hydra. And then Ultron," he tapped himself on the chest, "my fault."

Steve just listened, and Tony sighed: "And then, and then, and then- I never stopped. Because the truth is, I don't wanna stop."

He looked Steve straight in the eye as he added pointedly: "I don't want to lose her."

Steve lowered his eyes, while Tony admitted softly: "I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference."

Steve just bowed his head at that, and Tony turned to stand, adding quickly: "In her defense, I'm a handful."

"Yep, you are." Sonya interrupted.

He smiled without it reaching his eyes as he stuffed his hands into his pockets, pacing a little by the glass walls, before he continued a little bitterly: "Yet, dad was a pain in the ass, but he and mom always made it work."

"Because your Mum had me to keep her sane" Sonya said again.

Tony turned to look out at the security screens, and Steve murmured softly, trying to lift Tony's spirits: "You know, I'm glad Howard got married. I only knew him when he was young and single."

"Oh really?" Tony asked sarcastically as he looked back at Steve. "You two knew each other? He never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times. Just like we could never get rid of this one" he said pointing at Sonya.

Steve winced, lowering his head while Tony picked up his suit jacket. Tony added thoughtfully as he started to put the jacket on: "God, I hated you."

Steve sighed, and he looked back at Tony with sorrowful eyes as he said quietly: "I don't mean to make things difficult."

"I know." Tony answered with a raised brow. "Because you're a very polite person."

Tony walked behind Steve, pacing a little again. Steve turned to keep his eyes on Tony as he continued contritely: "If I see a situation pointed south, I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could."

"No, you don't." Tony said flatly as he stared back at Steve, challenging him.

Steve paused, before he admitted with a small, wry smile: "No, I don't." Steve sighed.

"Sometimes… " Tony began, "Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth." Tony cut in flatly. Steve glanced at Tony, his brow raised.

Tony shrugged, before he added quietly: "But I don't wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap. Son especially."

Steve stared at Tony thoughtfully, and Tony continued pleadingly: "So far, nothing's happen that can't be undone, please just... sign."

He gestured at the pens, his voice almost breaking as he finally begged. Steve glanced back at the pens pensively as Tony pushed desperately: " We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych center instead of a Wakanda prison"

Steve's brows furrowed as he stared at the pens, weighing Tony's words. He finally reached out, pulling a pen slowly from its holder. Tony almost sighed in relief as Steve stood up, playing with the pen in his hands.

Tony sat back down at the table while Steve thought for a moment, but then his head shot up as Tony added: "I've already filed a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated."

"Wanda?" Sonya asked turning around to him, her brows furrowing. "What about Wanda?"

"She's fine." Tony promised, although a wariness had entered his tone. "She's confined in the compound currently. Vision's keeping her company."

"Oh God, Tony!" Steve groaned as he turned away in exasperation and utter disbelief. "Every time. Every time I think you're seeing things the right way-"

"What?" Tony cut in sharply. "It's a 100 acres with a lap pool. It's got a screening room. There's worse ways to protect people."

"Protection?" Steve repeated incredulously. "Is that how you see this? This is protection?"

Tony snapped his mouth shut, grinding his teeth, and Steve accused: "It's intermittant, Tony."

"She's not a US Citizen, and-" Tony bit back.

"Oh, come on, Tony." Sonya groaned.

"-they don't grant visas to Weapons of Mass Destruction." Tony finished.

"She's a kid!" Sonya snapped.

"Give me a break!" Tony shouted angrily.

Tony took a deep breath as he visibly tried to calm down, "I'm doing what has to be done..."

He paused to look Steve dead in the eye as he finished flatly: "To stave off something worse."

Steve's jaw set, and he replied just as flatly:

"You keep telling yourself that." Sonya replied as she walked out the room to get some air.

Tony's eye twitched but he snapped his mouth shut, his eyes dark with anger and disappointment as Steve handed him the pen back, muttering: "Hate to break up the set."

Steve strode out of the room, heading out into the office floor, leaving Tony to sit alone in bitter disappointment.

* * *

Tony was sitting moodily in a far corner of the office, they turned to face the front as Colonel Ross called for final positions before the interrogation began. Nat glanced back at Steve, meeting his eyes briefly as he stared at her. He broke away first, turning to face the screens and her heart was heavy as she too turned to the screens.

Tony got up, joining the redhead by the edge of the room, between the screens and the conference room. Ross stood at the very front, right by the screens, watching Bucky closely on the monitors as the doctor walked into Bucky's holding cell.

"Hello, Mr. Barnes." The man greeted, a slight East-European accent in his voice. "I've been sent by the United Nations to evaluate you. Do you mind if I sit?"

They watched as Bucky showed no response, and the doctor sat down anyway.

"Your first name is James?" The doctor began.

* * *

Steve glanced at Nat out of the corner of his eye as she turned back to the monitors, his heart heavy. His eyes flickered back at the screens, watching Bucky even though he couldn't hear anything. Steve stiffened as he heard the conference room doors slide open, just catching the end of the Doctor's first question as Sharon walked in, before the sound was cut once more.

"The receipt for your gear." Sharon murmured to Sam as she handed him a piece of paper and placed their file on Bucky, which Ross had initially confiscated, on the table beside Steve. She looked around warily as Sam took the paper, glancing down at it.

Sharon slowly inched her way over towards the centre of the conference table as Sam spotted something on the form and asked her incredulously: "'Bird costume'? Come on."

"I didn't write it." Sharon shot back. Sam raised a brow as he watched Sharon, noting her movements and the slightly uneasy air around her. He noted the direction of Sharon's movements, and also glanced around furtively as Sharon checked one more time that the coast was clear before she switched on the conference phone on the table, changing it from restricted access.

The screen inside the conference room, right by Steve's face, switched on, showing them Bucky's footage and providing sound into the room. Steve glanced at it in surprise and then glanced back over his shoulder at Sharon. She shrugged.

Sonya walked behind Sharon as she whispered, "Thank you" then she went sat on the table right near Sam. Sam put a hand on her leg so show support and Sonya gave him a weak smile.

He turned to look at the screen, listening as the doctor said to Bucky evenly: "I'm not here to judge you. I just want to ask you a few questions. Do you know where you are, James?"

"I can't help you if you don't talk to me, James."

"My name is Bucky." Bucky answered at last, a hint of defiance in his tone.

Steve's lips pursed, and he turned back into the conference room with a frown. He picked up the discarded file, pulling out the Vienna security camera photos that showed the hooded man identified as Bucky from near the bomb site. Steve examined the photos again, before he finally voiced the thought that had been niggling on his mind ever since Bucky had said he hadn't been behind the Vienna bombing

"Why would the task force release this photo to begin with?" Steve asked aloud, glancing at Sharon and Sam.

Sam frowned, while Sharon shrugged and answered: "Get the word out, involve as many eyes as we can?"

"Right." Sonya said flatly. "It's a good way to flush a guy out of hiding. Set off a bomb, get your picture taken."

Sam's eyes narrowed as he leaned forward on his arms, while Steve continued pointedly: "It got 7 million people looking for the Winter Soldier."

"You're saying someone framed him to find him." Sharon said slowly.

Sam pointed out: "Steve, we looked for the guy for three years and found nothing."

"We didn't bomb the UN." Steve countered. "That turns a lot of heads."

"Yeah," Sharon argued quietly, "but that doesn't guarantee that whoever framed him would get him, it guarantees that we would."

She froze as her words caught up with her, and her mouth dropped open as her eye twitched slightly in realization. Steve turned sharply back to look at the screen showing Bucky and the UN psychiatrist, muttering in horror: "Yeah."

* * *

"Tell me Bucky." The man interrogating Bucky said smoothly. "You've seen a great deal, haven't you?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Bucky answered flatly, just staring blankly at his interrogator.

The man continued, undeterred: "You feel that, if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop."

The man was reading his laptop screen intently, and he added: "Don't worry." He tapped his screen as he received a message, and he read: 'STATUS: PACKAGE DELIVERED'.

The man turned his bespectacled eyes back to Bucky as he said darkly: "We only have to talk about one."


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Please read and review

Sonya frowned, glancing around uneasily as all the lights in the office suddenly went out and the monitors all switched off as the power in the building cut.

"Great." Colonel Ross muttered as he pulled out his walkie-talkie, calling: "Come on, guys. Get me eyes on Barnes."

He motioned to the other soldiers in the office as the men all stood to attention, ordering: "Go."

Nat looked around before turning to Tony sharply. The billionaire was already on it, calling through his special sunglasses: "Friday. Give me the source of that outage."

Nat turned to quickly move to one of the computers, hoping to try and get something to work as Sonya glanced back at Steve once more.

* * *

Steve met Sonya's eyes briefly, and understanding passed between them.

Sharon said quickly: "Sub-level 5, east wing."

Steve looked at Sam and Sonya, and then the three ran out of the conference room, using Ross's current focus on the power outage to race out of the office without notice.

* * *

Bucky glanced around the darkened room, red alarm lights flashing and providing the only light.

He asked with a confused frown: "What the hell is this?"

"Why don't we discuss your home?" His interrogator asked instead. "Not Romania. Certainly not Brooklyn, no."

The man's accent thickened and he pulled out a notebook from his bag. He held it up so that Bucky could see the cover as the man said menacingly: "I mean, your real home."

Bucky's heart dropped as he recognized the star on the cover, the only distinguishing mark on the leather notebook. He finally realized something was very wrong, but it was too late as the stranger removed his glasses and began to read in Russian as he paced around Bucky's cage: " _Longing. Rusted_."

"No." Bucky gasped as he felt an intense pressure beginning to build in his mind.

" _Seventeen._ " The man continued.

Bucky hissed as he felt his control starting to slip: "Stop."

Bucky's arms began to shake and he clenched his fist tightly as he tried to fight the effects the words were having on him. He shook his head, trying to remember Steve and Sonya, his best friends, his…

"Stop." He bit out, but the man continued: " _Daybreak."_ Bucky howled, his metal arm breaking out of the heavy restraints as the Winter Soldier reared his head and began trying to free himself with a vengeance.

 _"Furnace_."

Bucky tried to fight the effects, but it was a losing battle as the Winter Soldier broke off all the restraints and began to punch at the plexi-glass cage with his metal fist.

" _Nine."_

Punch.

 _"Benign._ "

Punch.

" _Homecoming."_

Punch.

 _"One."_

Punch.

 _"Freight car._ "

With an almighty crash, the door flew right off its hinges and the Winter Soldier landed in a crouch right outside the now open doorway. The stranger paused in his pacing before slowly walking up to stand before the Winter Soldier as the latter stood up, his face a dark and empty mask.

" _Soldier?_ " The stranger asked,

" _Ready to comply._ " Winter Soldier answered monotonously.

"Mission report." The strange man demanded. "December 16, 1991."

* * *

Steve and Sonya ran down the hallway towards Bucky's holding room, pausing when they reached the last corridor and spotted the guards lying dead on the ground. Steve glanced back to exchange looks with Sam as the other man skid to a halt beside Steve. The three warily made their way down the corridor, Sam bending down to check the fallen men while Steve moved into the security room beside the cell.

Steve paused as he saw more dead soldiers lying all over the room, Sonya went to check them, his brows furrowing as he noted the dark bruise marks around many of their necks, where it had been snapped. Suddenly a raspy voice called from inside the holding cell: "Help me."

Steve looked up to see the man who had been interrogating Bucky, lying on his side by the empty plexi-glass cage, clutching his side as he whimpered in pain. Steve strode into the room angrily, repeating incredulously as he walked closer: "Help?"

He reached down towards the man, snapping: "Get up."

Steve grabbed the man by the front of his jacket, hauling the man to his feet. The man eyed him warily as Steve glared. Steve shoved the man into the wall, demanding furiously: "Who are you? What do you want?"

The man met his gaze, his eyes becoming cold and dark as he snarled: "To see an empire fall."

Sam finally followed Steve into the holding room, when movement in the corner of the room caught his eye. Sam quickly ducked as the Winter Soldier leapt from where he had been hiding in the shadows, throwing a punch towards Sam. He missed, hitting the concrete doorway and punching a hole through the rock.

Sam quickly retaliated, punching at the Winter Soldier's side, but it didn't even faze the other man as he punched Sam back right in the stomach. Sam winced, staggering one step back from the force of the blow, and the Winter Soldier used the moment to grab Sam's chin in his metal hand, before throwing Sam across the room.

Sam crashed into the cage, collapsing onto the ground, out cold.

"SAM!" Sonya yelled out and ran over to him to check him. Thankfully he was just knocked out.

Steve quickly ran at Bucky, ducking as the Winter Soldier swiped at him. As the metal arm whizzed over his head, Steve stood upright once more, throwing a punch of his own at his former best friend. He hit the Winter Soldier right in the face, and the man snarled as he swung his fist back at Steve.

Sonya ran over to them and helped out by distracting the Winter Soldier.

Steve dodged it, his fists raised warily, but the Winter Soldier suddenly kicked out, landing a solid kick right in Steve's stomach. Steve grunted as he was thrown backwards, landing back in the security room. He quickly scrambled to his feet as the Winter Soldier strode after him, and Steve blocked the next kick with his bare hands.

Sonya was now taking the full brunt of the attack as Steve recovered.

Steve leapt up, throwing a kick of his own at the Winter Soldier, which the man blocked with his metal arm before he swiped at Steve with his other hand. Steve dodged it before moving to quickly block the Winter Soldier's next punch, backing away as the Winter Soldier forced him back.

The trio continued to fight, throwing kicks and punches while parrying and blocking the other's moves, moving through the office and back out into the corridor. Steve grunted as a kick forced him back against the elevator, and he grabbed the sides of the doorway in order to stay upright. Steve quickly dodged as the Winter Soldier threw another punch, and the man's fist went right through the metal elevator door.

Then he turned her attention to Sonya and kicked her so she flew back into a wall.

Steve desperately attempted to block the man's blows, trapped in the small doorway. He grabbed the Winter Soldier's metal fist as the man threw another punch at Steve's chest, trying to hold it back, but it was to no avail. The metal arm whirred before the Winter Soldier shoved his whole weight into the blow, punching Steve in the chest and making Steve crash right through the metal doors.

Steve fell down the elevator shaft, hitting the back wall painfully before he landed with a crash atop the elevator a few floors below. Steve groaned in pain, struggling to clear his head before he slowly began to lift himself back onto his hands and knees, knowing he needed to get back up to the elevator doors and out after Bucky before the Winter Soldier could cause more destruction.

* * *

"Evac all civilians." Colonel Ross was ordering sharply into his walkie-talkie as the whole building flew about in a frenzy, the news that the Winter Soldier was loose finally reaching their ears. "Give me a perimeter around the building and gunships in the air."

Nat and Tony walked quickly passed the harried Colonel, heading out the office and down the walkway.

"Please tell me you have a suit." Nat muttered to Tony under her breath.

"Sure did." Tony replied sarcastically as they hurried down the corridors. "It's a lovely Tom Ford, three-Piece, 2 button... "

Nat glared at him, and Tony snapped: "I'm on active duty, non-combatant."

Nat threw another glare at Tony, but they were all distracted as Sharon dashed after them, saying quickly: "Follow me."

She ran passed them, Nat was the quickest to react, darting after her. Tony hurried after the two women, silently cursing his expensive loafers and formal suit.

Sharon led them into an emergency stairwell, going swiftly downstairs and towards the first floor.

The trio followed, and soon they could faintly hear the sound of fighting and pained yells.

Tony peered around the wall, spotting the Winter Soldier as he took on six CIA agents in the middle of the canteen, while the two women quickly snuck their way around the edges of the room, forming a perimeter around the fight.

Tony snuck out swiftly behind a pillar, slowly closing in on the Winter Soldier while Sharon took up position on the other side of the room.

"We're in position." Nat informed Tony.

At her words, Tony activated his watch, giving him at least the Iron Man hand armour. As the Winter Soldier threw the last CIA agent, aiming his gun and getting ready to fire at the man, Tony stepped out from behind the pillar. Tony blasted a sonic sound wave at the Winter Soldier, making the man freeze as he winced in pain.

Tony quickly used the moment to run closer to the Winter Soldier, and as the super-soldier turned to face him, Tony shot a light blast at the man. The Winter Soldier ducked, closing his eyes against the bright light, and Tony took his chances. He ran at the Winter Soldier, jumping to try and take the man down.

The Winter Soldier reacted quickly however, turning upright once more as he caught Tony's arm before Tony could attack. Tony quickly shoved the man's arm aside, blocking another blow from the metal arm. The Winter Soldier swiftly retaliated, lifting his gun arm, the gun pointed right at Tony's face. Tony quickly snapped his hands up, grabbing the Winter Soldier's gun with one hand while covering the gun-hole with his Iron Man hand.

The gun fired, the bullet hitting Tony's suit hand harmlessly. Tony stared at the Winter Soldier in shock for a moment, before he grit his teeth, pulling on the man's gun. He pulled the entire slide off the pistol. The Winter Soldier stared at his now-useless gun briefly, almost as though unable to believe his eyes, and Tony grinned smugly before punching the Winter Soldier right in the face.

His victory was short-lived as the Winter Soldier swiftly retaliated, punching Tony across the face, and making him grunt in pain. Before he could recover, the Winter Soldier punched Tony again right in the stomach, sending Tony flying across the canteen and crashing into the tables.

Sharon quickly dashed out, throwing her leg up in a kick at the Winter Soldier's face, but the man blocked the blow quickly. Sharon grit her teeth, trying to aim another kick at the man as Nat dashed out of her spot. The Winter Soldier blocked that blow as well, before throwing a blow at Sharon.

The blonde ducked, and Nat jumped in, landing a kick right in the Winter Soldier's stomach. The man grunted as he staggered back a few steps, and Nat quickly followed with a well-aimed jab at the man's groin as she skid passed. The Winter Soldier winced, freezing on the spot in pain, and Sharon kicked him in the face.

Unfortunately, he was still standing, and Sharon tried to kick again, but the Winter Soldier grabbed her leg. The blonde woman simply jumped off her other leg, wrapping her leg around the Winter Soldier's neck. Before she could strangle him, however, the soldier threw himself forwards, using the momentum to throw Sharon over his head and making her crash onto a table as well.

Nat jumped onto the Winter Soldier's exposed back, grabbing him as she wrapped her legs around his neck in her signature Black Widow move, locking his head between her legs and choking him. As the Winter Soldier struggled against her, she jabbed her elbow down repeatedly on the man's head, trying to knock him out.

The Winter Soldier suddenly threw himself forward, smashing Nat down onto a table and making her crash through as well. The force of the blow knocked the wind out of Nat's lungs, and her legs released their hold fractionally for one second too long. The Winter Soldier grabbed her and threw her right into a wall, making Nat land with a heavy thud on the ground.

Sonya ducked out from cover, she jumped back out and and used her powers to push back the Winter Soldier as the man took a menacing step towards Nat's fallen body. The Winter Soldier turned to her and pushed against her attack which made her push harder and gritting her teeth.

Sonya swiftly moved, ducking as the Winter Soldier tried to punch her in the face, and she used his momentary exposure to throw an elbow jab right at the man's side. He flinched as he swung at her once more, but Sonya leant back, avoiding that as well before she threw a kick at the Winter Soldier, hitting him in the chest.

He reared back slightly, and she aimed another punch at him, but she wasn't quick enough to pull it away and he caught her arm. Sonya tried to break out, kicking him in the side, but he only winced before using his hold on her arm to grab her exposed neck with his metal arm, lifting her up and then shoving her against the wall as he began to choke her.

Sonya grasped both her hands on his metal arm, tugging in vain as she placed her feet on his chest, holding him as far at bay as she could, even as he tightened his grip. She gasped out, glaring at the man's emotionless grey eyes: "You could at least recognize me."

The man didn't react as T'Challa suddenly appeared, punching Bucky in the head and forcing him to let go. Sonya fell gasping on the ground, clutching her aching neck as she watched T'Challa fight the Winter Soldier, throwing kicks and punches as he droved the other man away from where Sonya lay.

The Winter Soldier kicked T'Challa hard in the chest, making the man fly backwards. But T'Challa quickly tumbled over as he landed, so that he ended up crouched on his hands and feet, glaring up at the Winter Soldier as the latter retreated quickly up the stairs and away from the team.

T'Challa quickly followed,

* * *

Steve ran out of the elevator, heading out towards the emergency stairwell, Sonya following behind. It was lucky he did, because he faintly heard footsteps running far above, heading for the rooftop. Steve dashed after the sounds, running out onto the roof to see Bucky sitting in a helicopter on the helipad one floor up, preparing to take off.

The Winter Soldier glanced down, spotting Steve and Sonya, and Steve saw him quickly move to take off faster. The siblings ran up the stairs after the other super-soldier, racing onto the helipad just as the helicopter started to rise into the air. Steve leapt at the chopper, grabbing the landing skids as Sonya made her way into the helicopter to try to get him to stop.

The helicopter jerked as Steve pulled down with his entire weight, forcing the chopper back down until his feet were back on the pad. Steve dug his heels into the pad, trying to keep the helicopter from flying off as the Winter Soldier fought to take off. Steve's feet skid along the pad, inching closer to the edge of the roof.

"Bucky, you need to stop. It's us. Sonya and Steve. This is not you anymore." Sonya tried to reason with him.

Bucky grabbed her by the throat and slammed her head against the helicopter wall and dazed her.

As they came closer to the edge railings, Steve leaned back, moving into a crouch. Keeping one hand on the landing skids, Steve reached down with his other hand, grabbing at the railings. He grit his teeth in exertion as the helicopter tried to keep moving away, kept back by Steve's grip as Steve held on to both the copter and railings for all he was worth. His arms felt like they were going to pop out of their sockets as he was pulled to his limits.

Suddenly the chopper swerved, and Steve glanced up to see the Winter Soldier had swung the entire helicopter in an attempt to either cut him with the blades or crush him with the chopper itself. Steve quickly let go, leaping out of the way of the chopper as he ducked away from the whirring blades as it cut into the concrete helipad right above his head. Steve rolled out of the way, getting to his feet quickly only to see the tail coming right at his head.

Steve ducked quickly, avoiding being beheaded by the blades on the tail as he dove down to lay flat against the ground. As the chopper finally came to a halt, hanging precariously at the edge of the roof, and the dust began to clear, Steve slowly lifted his head. He looked up to see he was right in front of the cockpit, and stared through the cracked window at Bucky.

The Winter Soldier suddenly sprang forward, punching his arm right through the glass to grab Steve's neck with his metal arm. Steve quickly grabbed the hand choking him, gritting his teeth as he struggled to breathe and break the Winter Soldier's grip. Steve stared into the familiar grey eyes that glared at him with no recognition.

Steve struggled to try and get free, becoming alarmed as the chopper started to slowly tilt off the edge of the roof. Steve scrambled on his knees, trying to get a footing and break free all while struggling to breathe around the death-grip the Winter Soldier had around his neck. Unfortunately, it wasn't working and as the helicopter began to slowly fall off the roof, Steve moved his hands to grab at the helicopter.

He hung for dear life even as the Winter Soldier choked him and the helicopter fell off the roof. The two men and the chopper went into free fall before crashing into the water below, the force of the impact forcing the Winter Soldier to let go of Steve. Steve tumbled through the water, struggling to get his bearings as bubbles surrounded him.

Steve barely caught sight of the unconscious Bucky and Sonya in the cockpit before the helicopter continued to sink down towards the riverbed. Steve quickly swam over, grabbing Bucky them both and hauling him out with the little strength and air he had left. The helicopter crashed soon after into the riverbed, while Steve swam up desperately, holding his sister and Bucky for all he was worth, and gasping in relief as he broke through the water and sucked in fresh air.

He quickly swam away, glancing around to make sure they were unseen as he swiftly moved away from the CIA building and the helicopter debris floating on the river and lying on the river edge, creating a very familiar landscape. Sonya was on all fours coughing and trying to catch her breath.

* * *

 _A few hours later_

Sonya had moved the machine to trap Bucky's metal arm just in case and stood back to watch him and wait for him to wake up.

Sam came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, "When this is over, we're going on a vacation" he said.

Sonya laughed lightly, "That sounds so good." she turned around in his arms and looked up at him, "How's your head?" she asked.

Sam rubbed his head where he hit the wall when he got knocked out, "Yeah, I'll be good. How you doing? You took more of a beating then I did." looking at the bruises coming up on her skin.

"Yeah, I'm good. I heal quick" she said as she rested her head on his chest.

"I love you. You know that right" Sam said as he lifted her chin up so she was looking at him.

Sonya smiled, "I know, I love you too."

Bucky started to stir as he gained consciousness. Sonya heard him and turned around, "Sam, can you go get Steve" she asked still looking at Bucky getting ready just incase he broke out and attacked.

"Sure" Sam said as he let go of her and ran over to where Steve was.

Steve stared out of the small opening in the abandoned warehouse the three had taken refuge in. His arms were folded across his chest, one hand holding a cellphone, as he warily eyed another German police force helicopter as it flew off in the distance.

"Hey, Cap!" Sam called sharply, and Steve turned to see the man standing outside the doorway to the inner factory workroom where they'd trapped Bucky. Steve quickly jogged over, joining Sam and Sonya inside the room and staring cautiously at the now awake Bucky.

"Steve." Bucky greeted in a hoarse voice, wincing a little as he tried to straighten up a little from the stiff sitting position he'd been in, his arm trapped between a heavy clamp machine.

"Which Bucky am I talking to?" Steve asked suspiciously, and Bucky glanced at him, blinking slowly as he thought about that question.

"Your mom's name is Sarah." He seemed to be slowly regaining his senses, and he chuckled as he remembered: "You used to wear newspapers in your shoes."

Steve raised a brow, and his face relaxed as he commented lightly: "You can't read that in a museum."

Sonya chuckled because she knew it was true.

"Just like that, we're supposed to be cool?" Sam asked, a little incredulously.

"What did I do?" Bucky interrupted, glancing at Sam grimly.

"Enough." Steve answered flatly, his face also becoming serious once more as Sam pursed his lips.

Bucky sighed, breathing in horror: "Oh, God, I knew this would happen." he said as Sonya walked towards him with some rags and water to clean the blood off him.

Steve watched him with a mixture of sorrow and caution, while Bucky muttered bitterly: "Everything HYDRA put inside me is still there. All he had to do is say the god damn words."

"Who was he?" Steve asked.

"I don't know." Bucky admitted.

"People are dead." Steve said sternly. "The bombing. The set up. The doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than 'I don't know'."

Bucky frowned as Sam's words dislodged something in his memory, but when he tried to focus, it slipped away.

Bucky's frown deepened, but he switched focus reluctantly as he tried to answer Steve's question. He tried remember what had happened after the Winter Soldier had been awakened, saying slowly: "He wanted to know about Siberia. Where I was kept. He wanted to know exactly where…"

"Why would he need to know that?" Sonya asked, frowning and sat back, and Bucky paused.

"Because I'm not the only Winter Soldier." He answered darkly.

* * *

 _December, 1991_

 _Bucky rode out on the motorbike, pulling up beside the other car as it drove down the deserted road. He shot the handle, taking out the car's power and making the vehicle careen off the road before it crashed into a tree. The hood broke out into flames immediately, and Bucky quickly turned his bike around, coming to a stop behind the vehicle._

 _He wrenched open the boot, revealing the metal briefcase inside, and he clicked it open to check the contents. Five small blue sachets, unmarked in any way, lay snuggled in the foam._

 _Soon after, Bucky delivered the goods to his commander, and the man smiled. "Well done, soldier."_

 _And later still, after the serum was administered into five different agents and the effects had taken hold, Bucky trained with each of the new Winter soldiers. They were strong, as strong or stronger than him, and more ruthless than even he was in his hypnotized state. Too ruthless._

 _They were almost uncontrollable, attacking anyone and anything in their way. They killed several HYDRA soldiers and doctors in the middle of the training and testing session in their bloodthirsty need for violence, eventually forcing HYDRA to place them into forced slumber, frozen in cryogenic tanks._

* * *

 _Back in the present_

"Who were they?" Steve questioned as Bucky finished his brief story. Sonya had gotten up and stood next to Sam, where he put his arm around her shoulders.

"The most elite death squad." Bucky answered quietly. "More kills than anyone in the HYDRA history. And that was before the serum."

"They all turned out like you?" Sam asked curiously.

"Worse." Bucky answered flatly

"The doctor," Sonya asked next, "could he control them?"

Bucky glanced at Sonya before lowering his head, saying softly: "Enough."

Steve frowned, looking at the ground and then Sam thoughtfully as he said: "He said he wanted to see an empire fall."

Sam glanced at him in disbelief watching how close he was to Sonya, but their attention quickly turned back to Bucky as he warned: "With these guys he can do it. They speak 30 languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night and you'd never see them coming."

Steve's face became grim, while Sam and Sonya walked over to Steve, saying in a low voice: "This would've been a lot easier a week ago."

"If we call Tony-" Steve began in the same hushed tone, but Sam pointed out: "He won't believe us."

"Even if he did-" Steve sighed.

"Who knows if the Accords will let him help?" Sonya finished.

Steve sighed deeply as he concluded the obvious: "We're on our own."

Sam paused, and then he said slowly: "Maybe not."

Steve stared at him in a mix of surprise and expectancy, and Sam suggested: "I know a guy."

"And I don't suppose," Secretary Ross said slowly as he paced before the remaining Avengers, "you have any idea where they are."

"We will." Tony answered flatly from where he stood behind Nat, who was seated at the conference table inside the security office.

"GSG-9's got the borders covered, recons flying 24/7." Tony continued firmly. "They'll get a hit, we'll handle it."

"You don't get it, Stark." Secretary Ross interjected flatly. "It's not yours to handle."

Tony's hand clenched inside his pants pocket, while Ross continued sternly: "It's clear that you can't be objective. I'm putting special ops on this."

"And what happens when the shooting starts?" Nat demanded. "What, are you going to kill Steve and Sonya Rogers?"

Ross turned to Nat and answered evenly: "If we are provoked."

He continued pointedly: "Barnes would have been eliminated in Romania if it wasn't for Rogers. There are dead people," he turned to look at Tony as the billionaire took a seat and folded his arms defiantly, "who would be alive now. Feel free to check my math."

Tony said flatly: "All due respect, you're not going to solve this with boys and bullets, Ross. You've got to let us bring him in." Tony insisted.

"And how will that end any differently from the last time?" Secretary Ross challenged.

"Because this time I won't be wearing Loafers and a silk suit." Tony answered, his tone holding a warning to the Secretary not to push him further.

Ross paused, eyeing Tony as though weighing his words, and Tony promised: "72 hours, guaranteed."

Ross glanced at Nat, before he turned back to Tony and said scathingly: ""36 hours. Barnes." He ordered as he began to walk out.

He glanced at Nat as he added: "Wilson." he finished: "Rogers. Both of them" with that Ross left, satisfied.

Tony called after the man: "Thank you, sir."

Nat's eyes were also narrowed with anger, but Tony met Nat's gaze evenly

"My left arm is numb, is that normal?" Tony said lightly as Nat's eye twitched in irritation.

The pair leaned on the desk, staring out blankly while Tony muttered with a sigh: "36 hours, jeez."

"We're seriously understaffed." Nat pointed out.

Tony muttered dejectedly: "Oh, yeah.", he paused, "It would be great if we had a Hulk, right about now." Tony commented as he looked at Nat hopefully. "Any shot?"

Nat's lips also pulled up in a small, although sad, smile. She answered softly: "No."

She became more serious as she added, looking at Tony pointedly: "You really think he'd be on our side?"

Tony thought about it and then he muttered: "I know."

* * *

After finishing making plans with Tony, Nat waited patiently downstairs. She stood beside the line of cars waiting by the building doors, checking her watch and sighing as she did.

 _S_ he heard T'Challa's voice, the man saying as he walked out of the CIA building with his entourage: "It's just a matter of time. Our satellites are running facial, biometric and behavioral pattern scans…"

He spotted Nat, raising his brow. His bodyguard stepped forward, facing Nat directly as she threatened: "Move, or you will be moved."

Nat raised a brow, a smirk on her face. T'Challa stepped in, saying amusedly: "As entertaining as that would be…"

He looked at his guard pointedly, and the tall woman backed down immediately. She and the rest of his entourage moved away, preparing his vehicles as T'Challa turned to Nat, looking at her expectantly.

"You really think you can find him?" Nat questioned, getting straight to the point.

"Our resources are considerable." T'Challa answered evenly, his brow raised as he waited for the true nature of her presence.

"Yeah." Nat quipped. "It took the world 70 years to find Barnes. So," she looked at him pointedly, "you could probably do better than them by half that time."

T'Challa raised both his brows as he realized: "You know where they are."

Nat smirked again, although her heart was heavy as she answered lightly: "I know someone who does."

* * *

Steve climbed out of his car as the other car pulled up beneath the nondescript bridge they'd chosen as a meeting point. He shut the driver's door, leaving Sam, Sonya and Bucky in the car as Sharon stepped out of their sleek black Audi. Dressed in dark jackets over their regular clothes, clearly ready to disappear.

Sharon commented dryly as she eyed his vehicle: "I'm not sure you understand the concept of a getaway car."

Steve shrugged as he walked away from the old Bug he'd commandeered, answering as he walked up to her: "It's low profile."

"Good, 'cause this stuff tends to draw a crowd." Sharon told Steve grimly, now that his attention was back on the bigger picture. She opened the boot, revealing Steve's shield and Sam's wings along with their respective uniforms.

"I owe you again." Steve said to Sharon gratefully.

Sharon answered lightly: "So does your friend."

She nodded briefly to the car, and they all glanced over briefly to where they could see Sam sitting in the front passenger seat, Bucky looking uncomfortable behind him and Sonya sitting behind the driver's seat.

"Can you move your seat up?" Bucky asked Sam.

Without looking back Sam replied with a simple, "No"

"Here, swap with me Bucky" Sonya said as she moved over him allowing him to move to behind the driver's seat and she sat behind Sam.

Sam glanced at her and she smacked him up the head while shaking hers at him.

"Hey!" Sam said as he put his hands on his head where she smacked him.

Bucky chuckled, "Who knew you would wear the pants in the relationship" he said to Sonya.

Steve and Sharon stood there in silence after "Take care of yourself." She breathed as she opened her eyes and met his crystal blue eyes.

Sharon stepped closer and kissed Steve on the lips for a few moments.

After the kiss she walked back to her car and got in, she then took off.

Steve sighed as Sharon's car disappeared before he turned around, and then he grimaced. Sam and Bucky had the same smirks on their face as Sonya covered her eyes with her hands, not wanting to see her brother make out with one of her pupils.

* * *

Some time later, Steve drove his friends up into the parking garage right beside the airport he'd agreed to meet the rest of their team at. He spotted the white, nondescript van that Clint had described, and he pulled up just a few spots down just as the archer clambered out of his car.

"Cap." Clint greeted, walking over to shake Steve's hand as the super-soldier climbed out of his small Bug. Wanda also climbed out of the van as Sam, Sonya and Bucky followed Steve out.

Sonya went over to Wanda and hugged her, "I'm so sorry for what Tony did"

Wanda pulled away from the hug and shook her head, "You shouldn't be sorry for what he did"

"I know, but he is my godson. But you're here now and you are ok." she said as she stood next to her.

Steve reached over to Clint and shook the other man's hand firmly as he added: "You know I wouldn't have called if I had any other choice."

"Hey man, you're doing me a favour." Clint answered lightly, before he turned serious as he added firmly: "Besides... I'm on your team."

Steve nodded once gratefully, glancing back at Wanda to include her as well as he said: "Thanks for having my back."

"It was time to get off my ass." Wanda answered lightly, glancing at Clint meaningfully. Steve noted the look, and realized Clint must've helped her- as he always did. Steve had always thought it was part of the archer's paternal nature, probably starting from before he'd even been a father. Steve turned back to the man in question, placing his thoughts aside as he refocused on the situation.

"How about our new recruit?" He asked, and Clint answered as he turned towards the van once more: "He's ready to go. I have to put a little coffee in him, but…"

Clint pulled open the van's side door, startling the sleeping occupant on the middle seat. The man literally jumped, his arm lifting to shield his eyes against the sudden bright light as he squinted out.

"He should be good." Clint finished, while Steve's side examined the newcomer intently.

The brown-haired man groaned as he basically rolled out of his seat, complaining to Clint: "What timezone is this?"

"Come on. Come on." Clint answered impatiently, pushing the man out of the van and towards… Scott Lang stumbled a little, before freezing in shock as he found himself staring at Steve.

Scott's mouth fell open a little, and he blinked at the super-soldier while Clint closed the van door behind him. Steve was examining the man curiously, having heard from Sam about the details around this 'Antman', but he gave a small yet warm smile to the stunned Scott.

"Captain America." Scott breathed, and Steve greeted as he held out his hand to the other man: "Mr. Lang."

"It's an honor." Scott answered, still sounding more awed than anything else. Steve raised a brow in response as the man continued to pump his hand, and Scott seemed to realize this as he added awkwardly: "I'm shaking your hand too long."

Steve's lip curved up a little in amusement as Scott finally let go of his hand, the latter still mostly in shock as he continued, staring at Steve: "Wow. This is awesome."

He turned back to Clint, pointing at Steve as he said excitedly: "Captain America. I know you, too." He added to Clint belatedly, making Clint lift a brow and Wanda grin. "You're great."

He saw Sonya, "Wow! You're that famous agent. You're amazing"

Sonya nodded in thanks, smiling politely, although it dropped somewhat as Scott randomly reached over and grabbed Steve's shoulders as though feeling his arms.

"Jeez." Scott muttered before letting him go, and Steve glanced back at Sam and Bucky in amusement, before turning back to Scott as the man added: "Look, I wanted to say. I know you know a lot of super people, so... Thanks for thinking of me."

Steve smiled again, just nodding back as Scott's attention shifted once more to look at Sam, who was standing right behind Steve.

"Hey, man." Scott greeted Sam.

"What's up tic-tac." Sam tossed back flatly

 _-Ah, so that is the Tic-tac you were talking about-_ she mentally projected to Sam and he smiled, along with Wanda who had also heard it.

"Good to see you." Scott answered hesitantly, and Steve raised a brow as Scott said to Sam sheepishly: "Look. What happened last time was, uh…"

"It was a great audition," Sam cut in, "but it'll…" Steve glanced at his friend in amusement as Sam shrugged and finished firmly: "it'll never happen again."

Scott seemed to be skeptical at that, but Steve steered them back to the current situation as he asked Scott: "Did they tell you what we're up against?"

He nodded back at Clint and Wanda, and Scott glanced back at the Captain, saying uncertainly: "Something about some... psycho assassins."

Steve nodded- it wasn't wrong- but he was dead serious as he warned the other man: "We're outside the law on this one. So, if you come with us, you're a wanted man."

"Yeah, well," Scott muttered with a light shrug, "what else is new?"

"We should get moving." Bucky suddenly chimed in from his spot still beside the Bug, and Steve glanced back.

"I got a chopper lined up." Clint informed them.

Suddenly, an alarm began to blare, and an intercom began to call out an emergency warning.

"They're evacuating the airport." Bucky sighed as the rest of the team glanced around uneasily, and Sam turned to Steve.

"Stark." He muttered, and Scott chimed in in surprise: "Stark?"

Steve turned to look at each of his team grimly, his brows furrowed worriedly as he examined each of them. There were many things going through his mind- worry for both their safety and what this upcoming fight would mean for them all, gratitude that they had come, and most of all the grim determination. But he said nothing of that, knowing there was no need.

Clint, Sonya and Wanda met his gaze evenly, their minds made up. Even Scott, who was new to their ways, met his eyes with his own unwavering gaze. And Steve knew that they didn't need to hear anything more. They would have his back, no matter what.

So he simply ordered his team: "Suit up."

Sonya went to go to the front of the car while everyone scattered but Sam grabbed her arm, "Hey, no matter what happens today, when we get out of here I'm going to marry you"

Sonya smiled, "Save that question for when we get out of here then. Better ask my brother and best mate first though," she smiled, "I love you" she said as she leaned up and kissed him with a lot of passion.

"Seriously" Bucky said looking at Steve, "They like this all the time?" he asked.

"Not always, I try to block it out." Steve replied as he got his uniform out.

"Hey, lovebirds, I said suit up" he said as he threw Sonya's uniform at her and she caught it with her powers so it was suspended in midair not looking away from Sam.

"I love you too" he said as she moved away to grab her uniform. She looked at her brother and Bucky, "Let's do this" she said as the boys nodded.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Please read and review

Steve strode grimly towards the airport landing area, fully suited up in his Captain America uniform and carrying his shield on his left forearm. He easily spotted the helicopter Clint had mentioned, parked and readied just outside the hangar currently keeping Steve from view, and he knew he'd have seconds or less to get there once he ran out. Steve glanced around warily before he broke into a brisk run out of cover and towards the chopper.

But he stopped almost immediately as a small gadget hit the chopper's wings, immediately sending up an electric current and short-circuiting the entire helicopter. He knew who would have done it, and Steve slowly lifted his gaze to where Tony was hovering in his Iron Man suit, his hand outstretched from where he'd shot the gadget. As soon as he saw Steve had stopped running, Tony flew down towards him, Rhodey appearing out of his hiding spot to join Tony as the two men landed their suits right before the chopper and in front of Steve.

Sonya used her teleportation to suddenly appear next to her brother to face Tony and Rhodey.

"Wow," Tony said sarcastically, "it's so weird how you run into people at the airport."

He removed his helmet, revealing the black eye he'd received from Bucky, as he asked Rhodey lightly: "Don't you just feel weird?"

"Definitely weird." Rhodey replied..

"Hear me out, Tony. That doctor, the psychiatrist, he's behind all of this." Steve said firmly.

There was a light thunk and a whooshing noise behind him, and Steve's shoulders tensed.

However, he kept a neutral expression beneath his helmet as he turned to see Black Panther landing to his right. T'Challa slowly brought himself upright from his landing crouch, keeping his eyes trained on Steve as he greeted: "Captain, Agent."

"Your highness." Steve returned, also watching the other man warily.

"Anyway." Tony cut in, and Steve turned back to him. "Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?"

"You're after the wrong guy." Sonya answered flatly, her back straight and standing proud against Tony as the man's expression hardened.

"Really Aunt, I would prefer you not be involved." he asked.

"Well bad luck godson, you will have me to deal with" she replied back.

"Your judgment is askew." Tony accused quietly. "Your war buddy killed innocent people yesterday."

"And there are 5 more super soldiers just like him." Steve interrupted.

"I can't let the doctor find them first, Tony." Steve told him more calmly, but just as firmly. "I can't."

"It could be a lot of trouble for us all" Sonya added.

"Steve. Sonya"

They turned to hear the woman's voice, although Sonya wasn't surprised that Nat would be here.

The Russian assassin stepped out of the shadows from behind, her green eyes trained on them and silently pleading him as she said grimly: "You know, what's about to happen. Do you really want to punch your way out of this one?"

Steve slowly turned back to look at Tony, his gaze softening with sadness. He didn't answer verbally, but Tony could see the answer clearly in the blond man's face.

"All right," he snapped, "I've run out of patience. Underoos!"

Steve frowned at the random call, before blinking in shock as something whipped through the air and caught his shield, yanking it out of his grip. At the same time as the shield was pulled up, something came down to bind his wrists together, and Steve glanced down in surprise to see it was a sticky, web-like material. He lifted his head back up sharply, turning to look as something red and blue landed on top of a nearby truck cab.

Steve blinked, unable to hide his surprise as he stared at a young man in a skin-tight blue and red suit, complete with a mask that completely hid his face. Two large white patches covered where the new super's eyes would be, and Steve was impressed with the amount of flexibility and agility the young man had shown. Although it was dampened as he narrowed his eyes at his shield as the newcomer caught and held it firmly.

"Nice job, kid." Tony called as Steve continued to somewhat gape.

Steve frowned slightly as the young man – or rather _boy_ – answered enthusiastically: "Thanks. Well, I could've stuck the landing a little better. It's just… the new suit... Well," he added hastily, "it's nothing, Mr. Stark It's-It's perfect, thank you."

"Yeah," Tony interrupted with a small sigh, "we don't really need to start a conversation."

Steve almost raised a brow, bewildered that Tony had apparently actually taken on a young teenage boy, judging by his voice to be about sixteen, as his apprentice. Had it been any other situation, he might even have found it funny.

Steve returned his attention to his current grim situation, glancing back at the boy as he mumbled: "Okay."

The boy glanced at Steve, and gave him a timid salute as he greeted in an equally timid voice: "Cap... Captain."

Steve nodded at him, feeling somewhat amused despite circumstances as the boy added: "Big fan, I'm Spider-Man."

"Yeah," Tony interrupted again, looking exasperated, "we'll talk about it later. Just..."

He trailed off, and 'Spider-Man' greeted the whole group shyly: "Hey, everyone."

"...Good job." Tony finished with a sigh.

Steve finally found his tongue, and he pointed out: "You've been busy."

"And you've been a complete idiot." Tony snapped as he turned to glare at Steve and then at Sonya, "Both of you" and his voice steadily rose with his anger. "Dragging in Clint. Rescuing Wanda from a place she doesn't even want to leave. A safe place. I'm trying to keep-"

He broke off, taking a deep and calming breath before he said to Steve, almost pleadingly: "I'm trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart."

Steve met his gaze squarely as he answered evenly: "You did that when you signed."

Tony's eyes went cold, and he said quietly: "Alright, I'm done."

Steve tensed as Tony raised his voice once more, shouting sharply: "You're gonna turn Barnes over and you're gonna come with us. Now! Because it's us!"

He indicated his team, as Nat took a deep and almost regretful breath, and her expression was clearly unhappy and divided as Tony continued angrily: "We're squared JSOC, guys, with no compunction about being impolite."

Steve turned his head away, and to almost anyone else it would seem as though it was out of further defiance. Which, in a way it was. The reaction made Tony's face fall, as he wondered if he'd perhaps been a bit harsh. In reality, however, Steve was wondering what on earth was taking his team so long.

 _'Surely it can't be that hard.'_ He thought in silent exasperation, when suddenly Sam called through his earcomm: "We found it."

Steve immediately turned his eyes back on Tony, watching intently as he waited for the right moment as Sam continued: "The quinjet's in hanger five, north runway."

 _'As we thought.'_ Steve thought fleetingly. It had been obvious to them from the start that Tony would cut off any and all means for them to escape, which meant the helicopter would be useless. However, Tony's team would've needed a lift to get here- confirmed when Nat had stepped out behind Steve. They just needed to find it before Tony could stop them. A diversion Steve had easily provided. But now, the real challenge would have to begin.

Steve lifted his bound hands up high above his head, catching Tony by surprise as an arrow came flying through the air and swiftly cut through Steve's bonds. Tony's face hardened as he turned to look towards the arrow's source, his helmet reconstructing around his head and shielding him once more.

"Alright, Lang." Steve murmured, quickly taking advantage of Tony's momentary distraction, and he spotted the tiny movement on his shield beside Spider-Man.

"Hey, guys." Spider-Man began as he felt the small movement on his side. "Something-"

He was cut off as Scott suddenly enlarged, kicking him sharply in the chest as he did. The force of the blow sent the boy flying backwards, dropping the shield as he did. Scott quickly grabbed it as he quickly darted off again, while Rhodey asked in shock: "Whoa. What-What the hell was that?"

Using the momentary pause, Scott reached Steve, handing the man his shield as he said: "I believe this is yours, Captain America."

Steve took the shield with a small, wry smile as Tony sighed: "Oh, great."

His head then tilted slightly as he glanced up at the airport building, quickly running a scan before he ordered his team: "Alright, there's two on the parking deck. One of them is Maximoff, I'm going to grab her."

He flew up swiftly, making to chase the pair as he added flatly: "Rhodey, you want to take Cap?"

Rhodey also took to the air, but Steve smiled grimly.

"Got two in the terminal." Rhodey called warningly to his team. "Wilson and Barnes."

"Barnes is mine!" T'Challa said sharply as he swiftly started to make his way towards the building. Nat had paused, hesitating slightly, while took the opportunity to throw up his shield and hit Rhodey right in the chest, knocking him down a little.

Sonya had taken the opportunity to teleport back to Sam and Bucky.

"Hey, Mr. Stark," Spider-Man called quickly, sounding very uncertain, "what should I do?"

Steve ran off, unable to hear Tony's response and not really caring as he ran after Black Panther. He quickly threw his shield, knocking the other man down, and he grabbed T'Challa in a headlock before the other man could get up, using his grip to throw T'Challa back towards the airport landing area.

T'Challa landed in a crouch, and he slowly stood back up, facing Steve as he snarled: "Move, Captain. I won't ask a second time."

Steve tensed, gripping his shield as Black Panther suddenly jumped at him, and he used his shield to block T'Challa's powerful kicks as the man leapt at him. The pair quickly began to aim hits at each other, trying to block the other's attack while aiming to get in a kick or punch of their own.

Off to the side, Scott had taken Nat on in hand-to-hand combat, which ended soon after as Nat electrocuted the ant-sized man, sending him flying backwards and into the side of a truck cab.

Spider-Man had meanwhile leapt after Sam, Sonya and Bucky, and Steve could hear their conversation as Bucky demanded, staring at the new figure: "What the hell was that?"

"Everyone's got a gimmick now." Sam spat in response as they ran through the airport building and towards the hangar.

Steve tuned them out again as he took dodged T'Challa's sharp claws, using his shield to block the attacks and wincing slightly as the claws screeched against his shield, leaving scratch marks. Steve had just blocked another attack when he spotted Rhodey behind T'Challa, pulling an electric rod from his suit as he said grimly: "Sorry, Cap. This won't kill you but it ain't gonna tickle either."

Steve barely had time to think before T'Challa kicked him right in the middle, sending him flying backwards. Steve landed with a grunt, quickly lifting his head and then his shield as Rhodey came flying in with the rod. Steve barely managed to block the blow, using his shield to keep the rod away from his body.

* * *

Tony fired blast after blast after Clint and Wanda as the pair ran below him, hurrying off along the runway. He finally cut them off, blasting a truck near them and forcing them to stop as Clint shielded Wanda from harm. Tony took the opportunity to overtake them, flying to be in front of them as he called sarcastically: "Wanda, I think you hurt Vision's feelings."

"You locked me in my room." She snapped back.

"Okay. First, that's an exaggeration. Second, I did it to protect you."Tony protested.

Wanda just glared at him, but Tony turned his head away, simply greeting: "Hey, Clint."

"Hey, man." Clint answered warily, his arrow already notched in his bow. The archer held his weapons loosely, but Tony knew it would take less than a second for him to aim and fire the arrow at him.

"Clearly retirement doesn't suit you." Tony commented wryly. "Get tired of shooting golf?"

"Well," Clint shrugged, "I played 18, I shot 18. Just can't seem to miss."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he fired the arrow at Tony. Tony barely dodged it, blowing the arrow up with a blast from his suit's hand-laser, and he turned back to Clint to say mockingly: "First time for everything."

But Clint just smirked slightly as he answered flatly: "Made you look."

Tony frowned behind his helmet, before his eyes widened as he heard a distinct crack behind him. He spun quickly to see cars coming flying out of the parking garage right behind him, and he quickly tried to fire them out of his way while he backed away to safety. But Wanda's powers kept the cars coming, and soon one hit him- hard.

Tony went crashing to the ground as first the one and then several more cars landed heavily on him, crushing him onto the floor. He groaned as he felt several parts of his body bruise, before rolling his eyes as FRIDAY informed him: "Multiple contusions detected."

"Yeah," he muttered back sarcastically, "I detected that too."

* * *

Sam was flying around, trying to either take down the boy in the Spandex suit or escape him, but 'Spider-Man' was proving to be extremely difficult to hit, while Sonya ran with Bucky. The boy kept swinging around, using his strange webbing to cross incredible distances while twisting and landing agilely all over the support beams underneath the building roof.

He dodged another of Falcon's shots, landing on a beam just behind the soldier as he flew off, before his eyes widened. Sonya and Bucky had stopped running and she stood in front of him.

Her hands glowed with power and got what she was wanting.

"Sam, Bucky, go, I have a plan for this kid" she said into the comms.

"Oh god." The boy muttered as he glanced back before quickly dodging as a large piece of debris came flying his way. Sam glanced back gratefully to see Sonya standing there, hands still glowing and about to run off and Bucky swiftly ducking back behind a pillar and out of sight, having caught the boy's attention, before Sam's eyes widened.

Sam quickly turned back around, flying back as Spider-Man used his webbing to catch the debris piece, before throwing it back at Bucky as he called: "Hey buddy, I think you lost this!"

Bucky quickly dodged the attack, while Sam crashed into Spider-Man and took him down with him. The boy wriggled before slipping out of his grasp, using his webbing to fly back up above him before he shot more webbing at Sam's wing-pack. The attack shut down Sam's pack, and Sam yelled as he went crashing down through a kiosk.

He glanced back, making to run off quickly, when the annoying brat shot more webbing, catching Sam's hands and sticking them to the balcony railings right behind him. Sam glanced down in disbelief, trying to tug his hand free but the webbing was too strong. He glanced up as the boy landed on the pillar beside him, somehow managing to stick to its side as he called: "Are those wings carbon fiber?"

"Is this stuff coming out of you?" Sam asked in disbelief.

The kid went on, ignoring his question: "That would explain the rigidity flexibility ratio which, gotta say, that's awesome man."

"I don't know if you've been a fight before," Sam interrupted, "but there's usually not this much talking."

"Alright, sorry, my bad." The boy answered before he swung off suddenly. Sam soon saw why- Bucky came running, trying to pull a sneak attack, but it backfired as the boy swung out of the way before kicking Bucky into Sam. The force sent the pair crashing through the glass railing and down onto the floor below. Before either could get up, Spider-Man shot them with his web, attaching them to the floor with webbing across Sam's chest – pinning his arms together before his chest – and webbing on Bucky's hands.

"Guys, look." Spider-Man called down at them. "I'd love to keep this up but I've only got one job here today." Sam almost sighed as he manipulated the controls on his left arm now that he had access to it.

"And I gotta impress Mr. Stark," the boy continued, "so, I'm really sorry- wha-?"

He broke off as Sonya levitated behind him, Spider-man looked back shocked, "How… How are you doing that?" he asked.

"Year's of practice kid, longer than your grandparents have been alive" she said and sent him flying into Redwings direction, Redwing came flying past, a cable shooting out of the small metal bird and attaching itself to the kid's wrist. Before the boy could figure out what had happened, he was yanked away, and he went crashing through the window before falling with a yell as Redwing released him. "Wwahhhh!"

Sam sighed, now that it had gone quiet at last…

"You couldn't have done that earlier?" Bucky deadpanned, and Sam sighed: "I hate you."

"Now now boys" she said as she pulled out her knife and floated down near the boys to release them from the webs.

"Thanks Babe" Sam said as she helped him up and then Bucky.

"Come on, let's go. I don't think we have much time" she said.

* * *

Steve was still fighting T'Challa and Rhodey, dodging quickly as Rhodey took a dive at him. He spun quickly in the air to avoid Rhodey's attack, making the man crash into the ground and break his electric rod while Steve turned and blocked T'Challa's leaping attack.

He quickly used a momentary opening to kick T'Challa, sending the Black Panther flying back and away. Steve tensed his muscles as both Rhodey and T'Challa started to get to their feet, when Scott called: "Captain, heads up!"

Steve glanced in surprise as Scott suddenly placed a small, toy-like truck in his hand, before he looked back at the man as Scott explained: "Throw it at this."

He held up a small blue disk, and Steve glanced down at it when Scott yelled: "Now!"

He threw the disk, and Steve didn't question it, just throwing the truck at the disk. As soon as it hit the disk, the truck suddenly enlarged, becoming a full-scale large truck and Steve's eyes widened as he watched it spin through the air. Nat's eyes went huge as well, before she ran, dodging the truck as T'Challa did the same while Rhodey complained as the truck came straight at him: "Oh, come on!"

The truck exploded as it hit Iron Patriot, bursting into flames upon impact. The force of the blow knocked Rhodey back off his feet while the heat from the blast sent both T'Challa and Nat flying to the side while Steve and Scott flinched.

"Oh, man." Scott breathed as Steve slowly lowered his shield. "I thought it was a water truck."

Steve turned to give an incredulous look at the other man, and Scott saw it. He turned to look at Steve as he said sheepishly: " Uh... sorry."

The pair quickly turned and ran, heading for the hangar as originally planned before the other side could recover. Steve glanced back as he heard a familiar metal clang, and he tensed as he saw Tony return, joining his team and helping them to their feet. They needed to hurry, and now.

Steve pushed himself faster, running out in front of Clint and Wanda as the pair appeared around the corner, heading for the hangar.

"There's our ride." Clint muttered as he, too, pushed himself to start running faster now that they could see the quinjet in the hangar across the runway.

"Come on!" Steve shouted as Ant-Man caught up with them as well, and he spotted Bucky, Sonya and Sam running out from the airport. The trio joined the others behind Steve as Steve dashed ahead, running straight for the hangar. They came to a screeching halt as a laser fired right before them, forcing them to stop halfway down the runway as Vision floated down towards them.

"Captain Rogers." The android called as he looked down at them almost scathingly. "I know you believe what you're doing is right."

Steve's side tensed as they stood in a loose line, facing Vision as Tony and Nat, and then Rhodey and T'Challa, and finally Spider-Man all appeared on the other side of the jagged cut Vision's laser had created in the ground.

"But, for the collective good," Vision finished as he landed to join his side, "you must surrender now."

"What do we do, Cap?" Sam asked tightly, and Steve took a deep breath.

"We fight." He answered simply, and he strode forward.

The rest of his team followed right behind their Captain's lead, and Nat cocked her head, her brows furrowed sadly as she muttered: "This isn't going to end well."

Tony's side also began to move, striding forwards to meet them. Clint notched an arrow as they slowly began to up their pace to a jog, the other side following their lead while Spider-Man glanced at Tony and said uncertainly: "They're not stopping."

"Neither are we." Tony answered firmly before he took to the air. Rhodey followed his lead as the others began to run faster. Wanda, Sonya and Sam took off into the air as well, as Steve's side broke into a sprint, and the fight began.

Tony came flying down to strike his fist on Steve's shield, the pair starting to fight in the middle of everyone else as the others also engaged one-on-one. Black Widow and Ant-man started to fight each other once more as Falcon and Iron Patriot engaged in the air above. Spider-Man dodged Scarlet Witch's attacks while Hawkeye shot arrows swiftly to break Vision's attacks, and Black Panther got his wish and engaged the Winter Soldier in battle but he got the added bonus of also fighting Sonya.

The fight quickly spread, each attacking whoever they could from the opposite side while trying to avoid all the attacks that came their way. Steve hit Tony hard in the chest with his shield, and at the moment Tony was knocked back, Clint fired an exploding arrow at the man. Tony was sent flying backwards from the force of the blow while Steve dodged an attack from Vision as Clint fired an arrow at Spider-Man, who was busy dodging all the flying vehicles Wanda was sending his way.

T'Challa, Bucky and Sonya remained engaged in a tight battle, Sonya and Bucky fighting well together as Ant-Man attracted Vision's attention and the two began to fight not far away. Nat had engaged Clint in close combat, swinging her batons at him as he used his bow almost as a staff weapon to block her attacks. The two friends were in an apparently even match, when Clint pinned Nat slightly back.

"We're still friends, right?" She asked.

"Depends how hard you hit me." Clint grinned.

He then blinked as Nat swung him around in her famous headlock, throwing him down before she aimed a kick at his head. Clint braced himself for the impact, but it never came as Nat was stopped by a red energy. Nat barely had time to look over at Wanda before the younger woman threw her away. Nat crashed into the side of a truck, landing with a pained groan as Clint got back up to his feet.

He glanced at Wanda, who answered his questioning gaze with the flat: "You were pulling your punches." She then dashed off as Clint sighed, shrugging before he darted off as well.

Meanwhile, T'Challa, Sonya and Bucky were locked in a tight fight as they threw punches and kicks at one another. Bucky finally locked his metal arm around the other man's neck, gripping him tightly and forcing T'Challa to grab his hand tightly as he struggled to get free.

"I didn't kill your father." Bucky said suddenly as he stared into the other man's eyes, hidden behind the mask.

"Then why did you run?" T'Challa demanded, before drawing on his anger and hate to fuel his strength. He slowly pulled Bucky's arm away from his neck, causing the other man's eyes to widen and Bucky quickly leapt back as T'Challa aimed another punch at him. Their fight began once more, the two landing equal hits on the other before T'Challa managed to land a solid kick on Bucky's chest. Bucky was sent flying back, hitting a pile of crates before he crashed back down to the ground.

T'Challa leapt at him, his claws extended and ready to rip Bucky's throat out, when he was suddenly stopped by a green energy. Like Nat, T'Challa barely had time to look over before Sonya threw him up through the air and sent him crashing right threw a jet bridge, "Because he knows people wouldn't believe him" Sonya shouted.

Spider-Man flew by as she did, and Steve quickly threw his shield at the youngster… or rather the web that was holding the boy up. The shield cut right through the webbing, sending Spider-Man crashing down. The boy was quick to recover, leaping to his feet as he landed in a crouch and he stared at Steve as the super-soldier caught his shield as it boomeranged back to him.

"That thing does not obey the laws of physics at all." The boy commented dryly, pointing at Steve's shield and Steve almost sighed.

"Look kid." Steve said sternly. "There's a lot going on here that you don't understand."

"Stark said you'd say that. Wow." The boy observed before he shot another line of webbing at Steve. Steve quickly blocked it with his shield, when suddenly Spider-Man aimed his other wrist at Steve's feet, shooting another line of webbing from his hand and attaching it to Steve's ankle.

Spider-Man then jerked on the strings of web sharply, pulling Steve down onto his back. Steve grunted as he landed before he was dragged by his leg towards the boy. Spider-Man fired more webbing at Steve, sticking it to his shoulders and using it to keep Steve down. As Steve was pulled in closer, he leapt down and landed a solid kick on Steve, sending the Captain flying backwards and into the side of a heavy metal truck. As Steve landed with a heavy thud and a pained grunt, dropping his shield, Spider-Man quickly ducked away, landing in a crouch underneath a jet bridge.

"He also said to go for your legs." He chuckled proudly, when Steve glanced at his shield. He quickly ran for it, but the boy reacted quickly as he shot his webbing once more, this time grabbing Steve by each hand. Spider-Man grunted as he pulled back on his hold on Steve, trying to keep the super-soldier away from his shield as Steve grit his teeth and tried to pull his arms forward and down to his fallen shield.

Steve glanced at the webbing as they struggled in a battle of wills and strength, and an idea popped up in his head. He spun his whole body around, using the momentum to tug on the webbing sharply. The force of the pull dragged a surprised Spider-Man off his feet and into the air, and the boy yelled in surprise as Steve kicked him away for good measure.

Meanwhile, Sam was both fighting and flying away from a very angry Iron Man, and as another laser blast from said Avenger barely missed him, Falcon called into his comms urgently: "Clint, can you get him off me?"

He flew off away from Tony as quickly as he could, unintentionally flying right before Clint far below.

"Buckled in?" Clint asked as he aimed his arrow carefully, and Scott answered in an excited but nervous tone from his position on Clint's arrowhead: "Yeah! No, I'm good. I'm good, arrow-guy. Let's go. Let's go!"

Clint fired his arrow just as Tony flew by, trying to go after Sam. Tony quickly turned as he noticed the arrow, dodging it and shooting laser blasts at the arrow for good measure as well, unaware of the small man that slid down the arrow and onto his outstretched arm before slipping inside his suit.

Tony, still unaware, turned to fire at Clint as the archer continued to shoot at him, raining laser blasts down at the agent as Clint quickly ducked around various airport vehicles to avoid being hit all while still aiming arrows at Tony. One grazed past Tony's head, and in anger Tony aimed his hand at Clint… only for nothing to happen.

Tony glanced at the laser on his hand, watching as it powered down with a sputter, and he called: "FRIDAY?"

"We have some weapon systems offline." FRIDAY reported.

"They what?" he asked blankly.

"Oh," a voice called from somewhere near his back, "you're gonna have to take this into the shop."

"Who's speaking?" Tony asked through gritted teeth.

"It's your conscience. We don't talk a lot these days." Scott answered wildly as he ran about inside Tony's suit, dismantling parts and pulling wires.

As the flight engines on his suit began to falter as well, Tony called in alarm: "FRIDAY."

"Deploying fire suppression system." She answered swiftly, while inside the suit Scott turned, still holding up a wire he'd just pulled out, to see thick condensed water foam being fired towards him.

"Uh oh." He muttered before he tossed the wire aside and turned to run. He ran down the length of the inside of the suit, but was quickly caught in the foam. He yelled as he was ejected from the suit with the foam, the small man sent flying through the air as Tony tried to get his suit working again.

Steve meanwhile was finishing up his fight with Spider-Man, knocking the kid down with a hard whack on the head using his shield. The boy quickly scooted away before using his web to swing up and away, landing on a jet bridge just above Steve. Steve looked up at the kid, mildly impressed and intrigued as he called: "Did Stark tell you anything else?"

"That you're wrong." The boy replied. "You think you're right. And that makes you dangerous."

He then leapt off the jet bridge, using his web to swing underneath it and towards Steve. He fired a piece of webbing at Steve, but the super-soldier had seen this attack coming and quickly dodged it before he jumped into the air and landed a solid kick on Spider-Man's chest. The boy went flying backwards, crashing against the leg holding the jet bridge up before he landed with a pained grunt on the ground under the jet bridge.

"I guess he had a point." Steve muttered as he threw his shield quickly, hitting the same pillar the boy had crashed into. The force of the blow made the metal bend before it snapped, and Spider-Man barely managed to get to his feet in time before the bridge came crashing down on him. He lifted his arms in alarm to catch it before it could crush him, barely holding it up as Steve caught his shield and reattached it to his arm while the boy struggled with the weight of the bridge.

Steve looked over thoughtfully, seeing something inside the boy- the something that he was sure Tony had seen, and which he was sure Dr. Erskine had seen in him.

"You got heart, kid." He called to the boy. "Where're you from?"

"Queens." Spider-Man answered even as he struggled to hold up the bridge.

Steve chuckled in part amusement and part disbelief, before he told the kid as he gestured to himself: "Brooklyn."

He ran off, leaving the kid to groan as he tried to keep the heavy metal bridge from crushing him. He met up with Bucky and Sonya ran over, and the three quickly hid behind nearby airstairs.

"We got to go." Bucky said tightly. Steve glanced at him as he pointed out: "That guy's probably in Siberia by now."

"We've gotta draw out the fliers." Steve muttered as he looked about and judged the distance from their current position to the quinjet.

"I'll take Vision, you get to the jet." He ordered, when Sam countered: "No, you get to the jet! The three of you!"

Steve hesitated, but Sam pointed out as he watched Clint engage Tony once more: "The rest of us aren't getting out of here."

"As much as I hate to admit it," Clint chimed in as he notched another arrow, "if we're gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it."

"This isn't the real fight, Steve." Sam finished firmly, and Steve glanced at Bucky.

The Winter Soldier's face held indecision, clearly uncertain whether he was worth the sacrifice the others were clearly willing to make for him. But Steve knew, and it made it easier to decide what to do, even if it wasn't easy actually following his decision.

"Alright, Sam," he called firmly, "what's the plan?"

"We need a diversion." Sam pointed out. "Something big."

He quickly twirled in the air as he avoided a blast from one of Rhodey's bigger guns.

"I got something kind of big," Scott interjected, "but I can't hold it very long. On my signal, run like hell."

Steve and Bucky exchanged looks, knowing the other's thoughts just from the silent communication after all the years of battling together in World War II. Who'd known they'd be fighting side by side once again in the 21st century and also with his sister by his side.

Steve frowned slightly however, when Scott added: "And if I tear myself in half, don't come back for me."

"He's tearing himself in half?" Bucky asked in disbelief, a matching frown on his face as he glanced at Steve. His face clearly showed he was re-thinking whether he should escape with Steve, but again, Steve knew this was their best bet.

"You're sure about this, Scott?" Sonya checked, and Scott answered blithely: "I do it all the time. I mean once... in a lab. And I passed out."

That was not as reassuring as Steve had hoped, and he fought the indecision that Scott's words brought. Maybe he should stay- Bucky and Sonya could go on their own right? Could he and should he be abandoning his team, and risking them to who knew what? But at that moment, something seemed to explode right above them. Steve stared as Scott appeared from nowhere and grew to be enormous, probably a hundred feet tall, and he grabbed Rhodey as the Iron Patriot flew by.

"Holy shit!" Spider-Man yelped, echoing everyone's sentiments as they all stared in complete disbelief at the giant being.

"Okay," Rhodey said flatly as he struggled to get free from Scott's grasp, "tiny dude is big now. He's big now."

"I guess that's the signal." Steve said as he stared up at the huge man.

"Way to go, tic-tac!" Sam whooped.

As Scott began swinging Rhodey around in his grasp, Tony stared up in a mix of shock, anger, and disbelief.

"Give me back my Rhodey." Tony said petulantly, when Sam came swooping down and kicked him. Tony, caught off-guard as he stared at giant Ant-Man, was sent flying through the air at the same time Scott threw Rhodey off into the distance.

Vision watched, his face unreadable, while Spider-Man called as he ran up onto a jet bridge to catch Rhodey: "I got him!"

He shot his web at Rhodey, trying to catch him and pull him down safely, but ended up being dragged off after the Iron Patriot. Spotting a truck, Spider-Man quickly pulled himself down, landing on the truck and using the force to keep himself from being pulled further. The sudden stop pulled Rhodey back, and he was able to stop himself just before he went crashing into a plane.

Scott meanwhile had kicked a bus at T'Challa, making the Black Panther tense in anticipation of a painful crash, when Vision came flying down. The android blocked the bus with a single arm, making the bus split in half and go sliding passed while leaving the pair unharmed. T'Challa looked over to see Steve, Sonya and Bucky sprinting down the runway towards the hangar, and he made to follow when Scott pulled the wing off a plane and smashed it right before him, blocking his path.

"Okay." Tony called as he barely managed to dodged the same plane wing. "Anybody on our side hiding any shocking, and fantastic abilities they'd like to disclose, I'm open to suggestion."

T'Challa was still trying to follow Steve, Sonya and Bucky, but Scott simply stepped before him and in his way, calling menacingly: "You want to get to them? You got to go through me."

He kicked at T'Challa, crushing the nearby crates as T'Challa ran for his life, barely managing to dodge the kick as he threw himself to the ground to avoid being kicked in the head. Scott was distracted as Rhodey, carrying Spider-Man began to attack him and drew his attention away, while Clint engaged T'Challa and kept him away from Steve and Bucky as he fired arrows at the Black Panther.

"We haven't met yet." Clint greeted as he switched his bow into a fighting staff. "I'm Clint."

"I don't care." T'Challa snarled, and Clint swung his staff at T'Challa, the two starting to fight in close combat. It was a battle Clint could only lose, but he tried to keep T'Challa occupied for as long as he could. It was only as Steve and Bucky had almost made it to the hangar that T'Challa finally managed to send Clint down, cutting through his bow-staff and breaking it beyond repair.

Vision meanwhile had fired a blast at the hangar, having used his powers to go right through Scott and towards the escaping pair. The effect of his attack was to cause the nearby watch tower to break, the tower snapping before it began to topple over, right in front of the hangar doors.

Steve, Sonya and Bucky slowed slightly seeing immediately that they would never make it, when suddenly the whole tower froze, suspended in mid-air. Steve glanced back to see Wanda fighting with herself as she willed her powers to be strong enough to keep the tower in the air.

The three quickly ran once more, running for the hangar as Rhodey came flying in and fired a sonic wave at Wanda.

The wave broke Wanda's concentration and she clutched her head in pain, screaming in agony.

The sound quickly attracted Vision's attention, and he gave up chasing Steve, Sonya and Bucky to fly over to his friend in concern while Steve dashed into the hanger, Bucky and Sonya right behind him as the pair barely managed to slide inside before the tower came crashing down behind them.

Steve leapt back to his feet once he was safely away from the tower, only to come to a screeching halt. Bucky stopped beside him, the three staring at the sight that met them.

Steve watched anxiously. Nat had her electric wristband aimed at them.

"Steve." Nat began,"You're not going to stop?"

Steve hesitated, before he exhaled sharply and answered firmly: "You know I can't."

"I'm going to regret this." Nat sighed as she shifted her arm to point her wrist towards Steve.

Steve frowned, tensing, especially as he saw Sonya tense as well, her wrist still held up firmly. Steve flinched as Nat fired, the shot going right passed them.

The three blinked, whipping their heads around to see Nat's stun bullet hitting T'Challa in the neck.

Steve turned back to stare first at Nat, in disbelief while Bucky continued to stare at T'Challa in surprise.

Nat met his gaze, her green eyes filled with grim determination as she bit out: "Go."

Steve nodded before he and Bucky ran towards Sonya as she stood guard by the quinjet doors, her gun still aimed at T'Challa.

Nat fired once more, knocking T'Challa back down as he tried to get up and follow Steve. Nat also fired, ensuring T'Challa was knocked down once more while Sonya stepped into the jet, Steve and Bucky rushing in after her.

Steve was already in the pilot's seat, and he prepared the jet for takeoff. Steve started the engines before he took them off, Bucky strapping in beside him while Sonya strapped herself into a seat in the back.

Below them, Nat continued to fire at T'Challa, emptying her cartridge on him as Steve took off, taking them out of the hangar and away as T'Challa watched helplessly. And then it was their turn to watch helplessly as Steve glanced down just once to see his friends defeated and seconds away from being arrested far below.

"We've got a tail." Bucky murmured quietly, and Steve glanced back to see first Rhodey and then Tony flying after them.

"Sam?" Steve called, and Sam answered grimly: "I'm on it, just fly."

Sonya turned and saw the look on her brother's face. He didn't answer, just powered up the jet's thrusters so that they increased speed. She turned to look at the monitors, before her eyes went wide. One of the three dots trailing the quinjet had suddenly dropped, falling towards the ground at a speed that wasn't normal and clearly indicated one of her friends had lost his flight power.

"Steve-" She began, when Tony called over the quinjet's comms, still connected to Tony's side: "Rhodey?"

Sonya's eyes went wide and her blood went cold as she realized something was going to go terribly wrong. Steve's grip on the quinjet's wheel tightened as Bucky leaned forward intently, all of them waiting anxiously, and Sonya prayed silently for a miracle. It was in vain.

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	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

They'd reached about halfway to Siberia when Bucky finally broke the heavy silence.

"What's going to happen to your friends?" Bucky asked quietly, and Sonya glanced at him while Steve just pursed his lips, his eyes still facing forward, before he let out a deep sigh.

"Whatever it is," he answered firmly, "I'll deal with it."

"We'll deal with it" Sonya corrected him.

There was more silence, "I don't know if I'm worth all this, Sonya." admitted softly.

He meant more than just the fighting- both Sonya and Steve could hear it in his voice. He was feeling guilty not just about leaving their side behind, but also driving a deeper wedge between the Avengers. A wedge that had caused a fissure that they all knew might never be reconnected again.

Steve finally glanced back, "What you did all those years... It wasn't you. You didn't have a choice." he said sternly as Sonya sat down next to Bucky.

"I know." Bucky answered, turning his head and averting his eyes briefly. "But I did it."

He looked straight back at Steve, daring the other man to argue, and Steve knew he couldn't. It was the truth, there was no denying it. Bucky saw that, and he nodded once before turning his head away once more. Steve sighed quietly before glancing at Sonya seeing that she was just sitting next to Bucky to give him the support he needed and that he never got after being controlled by Hydra.

Steve sighed again, this time more audibly, before turning back to pilot the jet.

"Sorry." Bucky softly said to Sonya.

"For?" she asked in surprise.

"For the times I attacked you. Causing you harm. I just wanted to apologize."

Steve blinked from his seat as he heard the exchange.

"Hey, It's ok. I know you were under Hydra's control. That you remember but you have no choice. And I'm fine."

* * *

Tony rubbed his head in his hands, frustrated. The only good news of the day was that Rhodey was still alive; everything else just seemed to turn the situation from bad to worse.

First, Rhodey was facing at least some form of paralysis after this. Second, it had been Vision's fault, something that stunned all of them, most of all the android himself. But no-one could even really blame him because he'd caused the accident while being distracted with worry… for Wanda, of all people. Third, he knew Nat had betrayed them, and the Russian was now on the run as well.

Except, it turned out she hadn't betrayed them because she was right- Steve was right. That was number four: Steve and Sonya were right. He'd been right to question how conveniently the blame had been placed all on Bucky right when it was needed, and to question the 'UN doctor'.

"Zemo…" Tony growled. FRIDAY had identified the 'doctor' they'd seen in Berlin as ex-Colonel Helmut Zemo, a Sokovian intelligence agent. Berlin police had found the original psychiatrist the UN had hired to interrogate Bucky, dead in a hotel bathroom, along with a wig and facial prosthesis that approximated the appearance… of Bucky Barnes.

Tony rubbed his face again, sighing deeply. They had been entirely set up, and Tony had taken the bait completely, disregarding Steve and his Aunt as he did. His Aunt who had never lied to him despite the situation.

He'd had ripped the team apart and caused a rift in his friendship with both Steve and Sonya… for nothing. And not only was Tony only now starting to see just how very wrong he had been, but he had no idea where Steve – or Sonya – were. It left him unable to help his friends, all while Ross continued to bug him about Steve's escape. The only reason Tony was even putting up with Ross was because of the aforementioned problem- he didn't know where Steve was. But he was going to find out if it was the last thing he did.

"This is the Raft prison control." A voice called over his helicopter communications and Tony finally lifted his head out of his hand, grimly adjusting the arm brace on his other arm. "You are clear for landing, Mr. Stark."

Tony watched as the prison rose up out of the sea below, rumbling as it broke through the choppy water surface. FRIDAY flew the chopper down onto the landing pad, battling the strong wind and heavy sea spray as the helicopter landed perfectly on the waiting landing pad. As soon as they were on, the landing pad detracted back inside the heavily guarded prison, while the facility itself sank back into the watery depths.

Tony climbed out of his helicopter as Ross walked out to meet him, and the billionaire demanded impatiently: "So? Did you get the files? Let's reroute the satellites, and start facial scanning for this Zemo guy."

"You seriously think I'm gonna listen to you even after that fiasco in Leipzig?" Ross asked flatly as he looked at Tony with a raised brow.

"You're lucky you're not in one of these cells." He hissed, making Tony raise his own brow. Ross led the way inside, Tony following quietly as they headed towards the deepest part of the prison. Tony's eyes widened as he walked through the security room, spotting his former friends each sitting in the highest security cells, complete with prison garb… and an entire straightjacket for Wanda.

Tony's face turned grim and his fist clenched briefly in anger, but he quickly readopted his neutral posture as he walked on, heading towards the cells themselves. The heavy doors slid aside, and Tony walked into the circular room, looking at each of the cells that lined the round walls of the prison. He glanced up, noting the position of the cameras quickly, before his attention was pulled as Clint called loudly: "The futurist, gentlemen!"

Tony bowed his head, slightly annoyed but mostly guilty as he turned towards the archer. Hawkeye didn't even look over as he sat on his hunches, continuing sarcastically: "The futurist is here! He sees all! He knows what's best for you, whether you like it or not."

"Give me a break, Barton." Tony muttered as he walked over to stand before Clint's cell, staring through the bars and plexiglass that separated them. "I had no idea they'd put you in here, come on."

Clint's answer was to spit on the floor before he growled: "Yeah, well, you knew they'd put us somewhere, Tony."

He looked up at Tony at last, his expression dark, and Tony protested: "Yeah, but, not some super max floating ocean pokey. You know, this place is for maniacs. This is a place for..."

He trailed off, trying to find the word, which Clint supplied.

"Criminals?" Clint bit out as he finally stood and faced Tony directly. "Criminals, Tony. I think that's the word you're looking for. Right? It ain't used to mean me, or Sam, or Wanda. But, here we are."

"'Cause you broke the law." Tony pointed out sternly, and Clint sighed:

Clint sighed, "Yeah."

"I didn't make you." Tony continued.

"The law. Blah blah blah." Clint turned to walk away around his cell muttering.

"You read it," Tony went on, "you broke it."

"Blah blah blah." Clint continued to mutter as he turned his back on Tony.

"Alright, you're a grown up. You've got a wife and kids. I don't understand. Why didn't you think about them before you chose the wrong side?" Tony snapped.

Clint's shoulders tensed in anger, and Tony turned away. But as he walked away, Clint called after him darkly: "You better watch your back on this guy."

"Chance is he's going to break it." He slammed his hands on the plexiglass as he shouted angrily after Tony:

Tony almost paused, glancing back, but he walked on, passing by Scott Lang's cell as the man said darkly: "Hank Pym always said you never can trust a Stark."

"Who are you?" Tony shot back as he simply walked passed, making the man gape incredulously.

"Come on, man." muttering in exasperation

Tony walked on, coming to the next cell and his target cell.

"How's Rhodes?" Sam asked, not even turning around from where he was facing the sealed doors at the back of the cell, opposite the barred plexiglass front.

"We're flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow." Tony replied quietly. "So... Fingers crossed. What do you need? They feed you yet?"

Sam raised an eyebrow, "You're the good cop now?" he asked sarcastically.

"I'm just a guy who needs to know where Steve and Sonya went." Tony answered.

Sam snarled: "Well, you better go get a bad cop," Tony covertly lifted his wrist right wrist before his chest, "because you would have to go Mark 'Terminal' on my ass to get information out of me."

"Just because you are dating my aunt, doesnt mean I wont kick your ass" Tony said as he pressed some buttons on the watch he'd been wearing, and Sam frowned as he watched before his eyes widened in surprise as Tony informed him: "Oh, I just knocked the 'A' out of their 'AV'. We got about 30 seconds before they realized it's not their equipment."

Sam glanced around, noting the cameras placed around the prison cells and realizing Tony was out of the camera's sight where he stood. Sam narrowed his eyes as he turned back to Tony as the billionaire said: "Just look."

Tony pressed another button on his watch, showing Sam an image of the dead psychiatrist as he explained: "Because that is the fellow who is suppose to interrogate Barnes. Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong."

"That's a first." Sam muttered darkly as he glared at Tony shrewdly, and Tony pleaded: "Cap is definitely off the reservation and he's about to need all the help he can get. Sonya too.."

Sam was eyeing him, as though sizing him up, and Tony sighed as he admitted: "We don't know each other very well. You don't have to-"

"Hey. It's alright." Sam sighed, holding up a hand to stop Tony. Tony paused, while Sam pursed his lips, before he sighed.

"Look," he said at last, "I will tell you. But you have to go alone," he looked Tony dead in the eye, "and as a friend."

"Easy." Tony shrugged.

* * *

Ten minutes later, Tony strolled back towards his helicopter, Ross finally calling after him.

"Stark, did he give you anything on Rogers?"

"No, he told me to go to hell." Tony tossed back over his shoulder, climbing casually into his chopper as he added snarkily: "I'm going back to the compound instead. But, you can call me anytime. I'll put you on hold, I like to watch the line blink."

Tony grinned with fake enthusiasm at Ross, enjoying as the man grit his teeth in annoyance, before his helicopter door slid shut and he took off into the air once more. The second he was out of sight of the prison, Tony's face turned grim once more and he took off the brace on his arm, steeling himself for what lay ahead.

He pressed a button on the chopper controls, laying back as the seat collapsed beneath him while the Iron Man suit unfolded itself and attached onto him. The seat fell away, a hole appearing in the helicopter floor and Tony fell out in free fall before he switched on his flight engines and shot off into the sky, taking off for Siberia. Unaware of the stealth jet that followed him as he flew off into the distance.

* * *

They reached the facility that Bucky had told them about, and Steve switched positions with Sonya so that he could get ready to move out while she landed them. Bucky joined Steve, the pair quickly adjusting their suits and readying their weapons as Sonya gently landed the quinjet right outside the hidden facility doors, sending up a small flurry of snow as she did.

She glanced back, her eyes filled with worry as she watched Steve lower the ramp and get ready to leave. Steve was glancing at Bucky, who was incredibly tense as he stared out at the snowy plains as Sonya came up behind them.

"You remember that time," Steve said to his best friend suddenly, "we had to ride back from Rockaway Beach in the back of that freezer truck?"

Bucky paused, glancing at his friend in some surprise before his face turned thoughtful.

"Was that the time we used our train money to buy hot dogs?" He asked, a smile breaking out across his face as Steve nodded with a small chuckle.

"You blew three bucks," Steve accused jokingly, "trying to win that stuffed bear for a redhead."

Sonya grinned as Bucky also chuckled, before he asked thoughtfully: "What was her name again?"

"Dolores." Steve replied and Sonya's brow rose before she snorted as Steve added: "You called her 'Dot."

"You were always the sweet talker" Sonya added in making the three of them smile.

Steve glanced back at her, his eyes twinkling before he turned back to his best friend as Bucky commented: "She's got to be a hundred years old by now."

"So are we, pal." Steve pointed out, reaching out to pat Bucky's shoulder as he gave him a humorous grin. Bucky smiled back at his friend, his grin becoming a little wry as he stared at his friend.

Bucky and the pair headed out into the Siberian winter.

* * *

End of chapter 15


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

Steve, Sonya and Bucky made their way warily towards the base. The trio arrived cautiously before the doors to the Soviet base, and Steve frowned to see them already partially hauled open.

"He can't have been here more than a few hours." Steve commented as he analyzed the opening and the surrounding area.

"Long enough to wake them up. " Bucky pointed out grimly

They slowly made their way inside, Steve leading the way with his shield held tightly in his right hand as Bucky kept his gun raised and ready. Sonya had her guard up so she could conjure her powers at a moment's notice.

They reached the rickety old elevator, speaking of days long gone by, and Steve carefully checked the whole contraption before they entered it and slammed the metal grate shut behind them.

Neither said a word, just facing each other in silence as the elevator arrived in the basement with an ominous clang, and the doors opened to reveal a dim corridor, leading into the facility.

Steve glanced out the doors, moving his hand to the manual guardrails and pulling them up.

Bucky moved to lead the way this time, his gun raised as he made his way carefully down the corridor and towards where he remembered the labs to be. Steve and Sonya had his back, keeping his shield raised and ready to protect them in the event they came under attack, while the elevator doors slid shut behind them.

Bucky slowly made his way up the stairs at the end of the corridor, when suddenly a noise in the elevator had them both spinning on their heels. Steve lifted his shield to cover them both as Bucky held his gun over Steve's shoulder, cocking it as he aimed at the doors while Sonya's hands began to glow with power.

There was another loud creak from inside the elevator, and Steve asked quietly: "You ready?"

"Yeah." Bucky replied determinedly, his eyes never leaving his target range as they both waited for the hostiles to show themselves. The doors creaked again, as they were hauled open and Steve blinked in surprise as he stared at the metal-clad figure inside, the familiar blue-ish reactor shining at them through the dimly lit corridor.

Steve lowered his shield fractionally as the Iron Man mask folded back, revealing Tony's face as the billionaire walked closer, his eyes also darting around warily as he checked for danger.

"You seem a little defensive." Tony called as he slowly made his way over towards the trio.

Steve also stepped cautiously closer, his shield still lifted while Bucky kept his gun trained on Tony, as Steve said carefully: "It's been a long day."

Tony glanced up at Bucky, calling flatly: "At ease, soldier. I'm not currently after you."

"Then why are you here?" Steve bit out, his blue eyes watching Tony suspiciously and Tony sighed, turning his eyes back on the Captain.

"Maybe, your story is not so crazy." Tony replied seriously. "Maybe."

Steve raised a brow as Tony admitted: "Ross has no idea I'm here, I'd like to keep it that way."

He leaned against a nearby pillar, joking although his tone was still too grim for it be as cocky as his usual cracks: "Otherwise, I gotta arrest myself."

"Well, that sounds like a lot of paperwork." Steve replied monotonously, and Tony snorted while Steve finally lowered his shield.

"It's good to see you, Tony." Steve offered.

"You too, Cap."Tony answered softly.

Tony then glanced up at Bucky, who was still pointing his gun at Tony, and he called sarcastically: "Manchurian candidate, you're killing me. There's a truce here, you can drop it."

"Son, could you…. Help" Tony asked.

Steve glanced back, Sonya's hands stopped glowing and put a hand on Bucky's gun letting him know that it was all right, and the man slowly lowered his gun although his dark eyes never left Tony.

Steve turned back to Tony, who seemed to be hesitating, before he asked quickly and quietly:

"I'm surprised Sonya didn't blast you with her powers." Steve joked half-heartedly as he and Bucky made to follow Tony into the facility.

"Yeah, me too." Tony admitted, but the air had quickly become too grim as they moved deeper inside, and any attempt at lightheartedness ended as Tony carefully led the way towards the deepest part of the labs. Steve and Bucky followed, glancing around continuously as they kept eyes and ears open for any signs of danger. Unaware of Black Panther stalking them carefully from a large distance as the Wakandan Prince keeping to the shadows and watching for the opportune moment.

* * *

Tony had just reached the doorway to the dark lab when he paused, frowning inside his suit as he warned: "I got heat signatures."

"How many?" Sonya asked immediately, the three coiling tightly in preparation, when Tony answered in a puzzled tone: "Uh, one."

Steve frowned as Tony slowly walked into the lab with his hand raised cautiously, ready to fire when necessary. Bucky, Sonya and Steve followed, weapons and abilities at the ready as they stepped inside when the lights inside the cryogenic tanks lining the lab flickered on, and Steve's eyes widened.

"If it's any comfort," Zemo's voice called over the intercoms as the 4 of them stiffened, "they died in their sleep."

Steve slowly made his way further into the room, leading the other three as he examined the bodies in the cryogenic tanks while Zemo hissed: "Did you really think I wanted more of you?"

"What the hell?" Bucky growled as he stared at the single bullet holes in each tank, and the blood slowly dripping down each of the Winter Soldiers' faces from the small but fatal wounds sitting dead centre on each soldier's foreheads.

"I'm grateful to them though." Zemo continued as they looked around warily, trying to find the source of his voice. "They brought you here."

A light flickered on in the far side of the room, and Tony aimed his laser as Steve threw his shield at Zemo as the man's face was revealed from the shadows. It bounced right off the steel door protecting Zemo, and he caught it as it came flying back towards him while Zemo commented with a hint of amusement: "Please, Captain."

Sonya then tried to get into his head, but nothing was happening then tried to teleport to where Zemo was, "Your powers won't work on me Miss Rogers"

"That's Agent to you scumbag!" she growled.

The lights throughout the facility flickered on as Zemo said to them through the thick glass window in the door: "The Soviets built this chamber to withstand the launch blast of UR 100 rockets."

"I'm betting I can beat that." Tony called sharply as the trio all made their way closer to the reinforced door.

Zemo answered lightly: "Oh, I'm sure you could, Mr. Stark. Given time. But then you'll never know why you came."

"You killed innocent people in Vienna just to bring us here?" Steve asked darkly, his eyes narrowing as he strode closer to the door.

The man's eyes were dark with anger and hatred as he hissed: "I thought about nothing else for over a year. I studied you, I followed you."

He stared right back at Steve, meeting his gaze as he murmured darkly: "But now that you are standing here, I just realized... There's a bit of green in the blue of your eyes."

Steve's eyes narrowed while Zemo chuckled mirthlessly, murmuring flatly: "How nice to find a flaw."

"You're Sokovian." Sonya bit out, choosing to ignore the man's words as his eyes and voice hardened. "Is that what this is about?" Steve continued.

"Sokovia was a failed state long before you blew it to hell." Zemo answered, his voice hardening as he matched Steve's gaze. "No. I'm here because I made a promise."

Steve's brow lifted just slightly beneath his helmet as he realized exactly what had driven Zemo to do the things he had done.

"You've lost someone." Sonya realized.

Zemo nodded just slightly, his gaze filling with deep hatred as he snarled: "I've lost everyone."

Steve's lips thinned, before his eyes narrowed as Zemo hissed: "And so will you."

Zemo turned, touching a button and the computer beside Steve, sitting between him and Tony, switched on. He glanced over sharply, before he frowned slightly as he read the words that had appeared on the screen: '16 _December_ 1991'.

He turned back to Zemo sharply, before he walked over to the computer as Zemo bit out: "An empire topple by its enemies can rise again. But one which crumples from within..." Steve glanced back at the man, "that's dead... forever."

Steve's jaw set as he turned back to the screen, Sonya knowing the date and the footage stepped closer to Bucky as she knew what her nephew was capable of.

Tony had moved to look at the screen as well, his mask unfolding once more and he frowned as he saw the video footage that was starting to play.

"I know that road." Tony said shakily, his voice trembling as he stared at the scene that had haunted his nightmares for years. He glanced at the date showing at the bottom of the security camera footage, noting the date: '16 December 1991'.

"What is this?" He shouted sharply at Zemo, but the man's face was impassive save for the slight glazing of his eyes as he watched them silently.

Tony turned his eyes back to the video footage, his jaw clenching as he watched the very familiar car coming spinning from one end of the screen before crashing front first into the tree at the side of the road. The crushed hood immediately started smoking, bursting into a small fire, but Tony frowned as he saw something shoot passed the car.

He stepped closer to the screen, his eyes narrowing as he watched a motorcycle spin back around and drive back before parking just behind the car. The man was clothed in full black, and his face was hidden from the camera, but a dark sense of dread began to settle in his stomach as he watched the biker climb off his vehicle.

Steve glanced at Tony, his eyes wary as he watched Tony's face fill with horror while on the screen, Howard Stark crawled out of his car. Howard, sensing someone's presence, pleaded through his pain: "Help my wife. Please. Help her."

The other man simply bent down, using his one human hand to grab Howard by the hair and pulling his head back sharply. Howard gasped in pain as the movement dragged his head up and pulled him up to his knees, before he looked over at his assailant in first fear and then horror.

"Sergeant Barnes?" He asked in shock, and it was like Tony's heart had turned to stone, dropping straight down to his stomach. And for one miniscule of a second he wished it had stayed like that because next second it felt as though his heart was being twisted and shredded into pieces as the full weight of the betrayal hit him.

Tony slowly looked up to stared at Bucky, whose gaze was on the floor as Maria Stark's voice called between gasps, laced with pain: "Howard."

Tony's jaw set and his eyes were already filling with tears as Bucky slowly lifted his eyes to meet Tony's over Sonya's shoulder, filled with apology and regret. But Tony didn't care as his brows furrowed with pain and anger as Maria called again anxiously: "Howard!"

He turned back to look at the screen just in time to see Bucky smash his metal arm into Howard's face once, twice, and then thrice. The final blow snapped Howard's neck, ensuring his death, as Maria called desperately, her voice filled with agony: "Howard!"

Tony's eyes closed briefly before they snapped back open, filled with anger, and he was starting to tremble as he watched Bucky haul his father back into the car, placing the dead man against his steering wheel as Maria's breath became even heavier as she stared at her husband's body.

Steve closed his eyes as Bucky moved around the car towards the passenger seat, reaching in with his human hand and choking Maria. He didn't even look down, his dead eyes fixed on thin air as he slowly choked Maria to death. Tony's eyes filled with tears as he watched his mother call weakly: "Help."

And then it was over, and she was breathing no more. Steve opened his eyes to stare at the back of Tony's head as the man's fist curled, his body still shaking as he watched Bucky walk up to the camera before shooting it and ending the footage.

There was a brief silence as Tony's breathing started to become ragged, before he spun and took a menacing step towards Bucky. Steve quickly grabbed him, holding him back while Bucky made no move to defend himself as Steve tried to say pleadingly: "Tony. Tony."

Tony paused at that, before slowly turning to stare Steve right in the eye. His eyes were filled with tears, anger, hatred, and hurt as he bit out: "Did you know?" he then turned to Sonya, "Did you?" he asked her but she remained silent.

Steve's eyes filled with sorrow and regret, giving him away as he answered quietly: "I didn't know it was him."

"Don't bullshit me, Rogers." Tony hissed furiously, his voice low as his hands curled into tight fists. "Did you know?"

Steve stared at Tony, searching Tony's eyes briefly before his jaw set and he admitted quietly, his voice filled with apology: "Yes."

Tony pulled his arm away from Steve's grip, reeling back in horror and pain as he felt the true weight of the betrayal. His tear-filled eyes slowly moved back to the now black screen then to Sonya, and he asked, his voice cracking as a single tear slipped out: "How could you keep that from me? You should have been there to help him"

Sonya's eyes started to well up as she looked at Tony, "You know I was on assignment already. I blame myself everyday that I was not there to protect him when I promised I would. But he made me promise something else…" she said as she raised her hands, "To protect you! And I am making sure I keep that promise" she explained as a tear or two fell from her eyes.

Before anyone else could say anything, Tony turned, punching Steve right in the face. Steve went flying backwards as Tony's mask slipped back on, covering his hate-filled gaze as he watched Steve tumble away.

Sonya formed a forcefield ready to deflect whatever Tony through at her and Bucky and Tony sent a blast at them knocking Sonya back and out of the way. Bucky raised his gun up and aimed but not before Tony fired again, knocking the gun out of Bucky's grip.

Bucky moved swiftly as Iron Man approached him with angry strides, throwing a punch at him but Tony grabbed Bucky's metal arm, tightening his grip as he turned Bucky's arm away from him.

Zemo turned and slipped away, disappearing into the shadows behind the door as the enraged Tony grabbed Bucky's throat and hauled him up before taking off into the air briefly to gain momentum as he slammed Bucky back down on the ground. Bucky groaned at the impact, and Tony quickly took advantage of the opening to slam his feet down on Bucky's wrists, pinning him down.

Bucky grunted, and writhed to try and get free as Tony aimed his hand's laser at Bucky's face. Steve's shield hit him on the back of the head just as Tony fired, causing Tony's head to jerk and his hand to shift, missing his target as the blast hit right by Bucky's head.

Tony whipped his head around as the shield went flying back, and Steve caught his shield before slamming it against Tony's body. Tony was thrown off Bucky, but landed swiftly on his feet, the metal screeching on the floor as he came to a sharp halt before he flew at Steve as the Captain stood protectively over his best friend and Sonya helped Bucky up.

Steve raised his shield to block Tony, but Tony simply flew right at the shield, tackling Steve and sending him flying back with a grunt of pain.

Tony quickly fired at Steve, the metal gadgets spinning in the air before the pieces wrapped around Steve's ankles in a tight restraint then firing a bola at Sonya to incapacitate her.

Before he could fire again, Bucky tackled him, punching Tony in the face. Tony retaliated by grabbed Bucky by the neck, taking to the air once more and slamming Bucky against the wall a few feet above the ground. Tony tried to aim his laser at Bucky's head once more, but Bucky caught Tony's hand with his own metal one, turning the laser away from himself and pointing it towards Tony's head as he tightened his grip.

He finally squeezed hard enough that the suit casing cracked and the laser smashed, becoming useless. Bucky grit his teeth as he fought to breathe, his hold on Tony's hand loosening. Tony used that moment to pull his hand free, instead aiming his fist at Bucky's head as he released a missile from the back of his suit's wrist. Bucky reacted quickly, knocking Tony's hand away and causing the missile to fly off to the side, where it exploded against one of the pillars above one of the cryogenic tanks, holding the tank in place.

Steve whacked his shield down on the restraints around his ankles one more time, this time managing to break them, and he quickly ran for the fighting duo as the pillar came crashing down, smashing the tank beneath it. Unfortunately, the broken pillar lead to a chain reaction as it tore down the beams holding up the rest of the chamber.

Steve glanced up before he jumped aside as the lab began to collapse in on itself. Bucky and Tony also looked over before Bucky finally ripped himself out of Tony's grasp, landing with a thud on the ground below. He quickly rolled away before he could be flattened while Tony was knocked aside by one of the falling beams, landing with his own heavy thud on one side of the collapsed lab.

As Sonya finally got herself free, Steve quickly leapt to his feet, looking around before spotting Bucky as the man also got up, breathing heavily as he glanced first at the metal and concrete debris that almost killed him and then across at Steve.

"Get him out of here!" Steve ordered Sonya, her and Bucky immediately turned and ran as Steve turned back to look for Tony.

* * *

Last chapter coming up.


	17. Chapter 17

Welcome to the final chapter, this is it… for now…..

I am so excited for the new avengers movie to come out next year.

I have also started started a Star wars fanfic which is a Poe/OC. If your a fan of Star wars, please read it.

 **Chapter 17**

* * *

Bucky and Sonya had just reached the far doorway when Tony spotted him, firing lasers after him as he ducked out and away. "Keep going, if I need to I will distract Tony." she said to him as they continued.

Steve quickly jumped over, landing in front of Tony's path and blocking his way. There was an ominous clang behind him and something creaked while a cold wind blew inside. Steve absently noted that a door to the outside of the base must have been opened but he ignored it for the moment as Tony fired up his flight jets.

"It wasn't him, Tony." Steve called at Tony desperately. "Hydra had controlled of his mind!"

"Move!" Tony snapped as he flew higher, before shooting forward to fly over Steve's head and after Bucky.

Steve jumped, grabbing Tony's foot and hauling him back and down as he yelled: "It wasn't him!"

When Tony showed no sign of relenting, trying to fly on, Steve began punching his shield on the jet on Tony's foot. He finally smashed it, causing it to shut down and he let go as Tony lashed out, dodging the kick as Tony landed heavily at the doorway that Bucky and Sonya had disappeared through.

Steve hurried after him, but Tony simply fired a laser at the concrete around him, causing the doorway to collapse and blocking Steve from following them. He grit his teeth, before smashing at the concrete, starting to punch his way through as he hoped that Bucky and Sonya was somewhere safe. At the very least, Steve was certain Tony wouldn't be able to fly as quickly or as high anymore, not with one of his flight jets busted.

* * *

"Left boot-jet failing. Flight systems compromised." Friday reported to Tony.

"Ugh, crap." Tony said as he landed on a platform.

Steve looked at Sonya, knowing she could hear him "He's not going to stop. Go." he said as Sonya nodded and got Bucky to climb up higher to get out.

Tony raised his hand to fire at the hinge at the top to stop them from escaping, "Come on. Come on." as his targeting system couldnt get a lock on.

"Targeting systems inaccurate, Boss." Friday told him.

Tony's mask came off and he closed one eye to aim, "I'm eye balling it." he fired and got the hinge which caused both Sonya and Bucky to fall.

They all ended up down further, poised to attack. "Do you even remember them?" Tony asked Bucky who was not giving letting Sonya protect him by standing in front of him.

"I remember all of them." he replied as Tony attacked him with punches. Sonya tried to intervene but was only blasted back by Tony and knocked out when her head collided with the concrete wall. Tony still cared for her so the blast was not fatal, but he was still wanting to make a point that he was hurt by her betrayal and didn't want her to interfere anymore.

Steve jumped into help Bucky fend off Tony, "This isn't going to change what happened."

"I don't care. He killed my mom." he said and continued on the attacks to both while Bucky and Steve worked together in unison.

Bucky was attacking Tony and grabbed his chest, he was about rip out the light but Tony blasted Bucky back, blowing Bucky's arm off. That's when Steve jumped in.

Meanwhile outside, Zemo was sitting in the snow listening to his voicemail again as T'Challa walked up silently like a cate.

"You should've seen his little face. Just try, okay? I'm going to bed. I love you." with that the voicemail ended and Zemo dropped the phone.

"I almost kill the wrong man." T'Challa said as he looked at Zemo realizing it was him all along who had set off that bomb.

"Hardly an innocent one." Zemo replied.

"Is this what you wanted? To see them ripped each other apart."

Zemo ignored his question, "My father lived outside the city. I thought we would be safe there. My son was excited. He could see the Iron Man from the car window. And I told my wife, "Don't worry. They are fighting in the city. We are miles from harm." When the dust cleared, and the screaming stopped. It took me two days after I found their bodies. My father... still holding my wife and son in his arms. And the Avengers... they went home. I knew I couldn't kill them. More powerful men than me have tried. But, if I could get them to kill each other?..." he paused and looked up at T'Challa, "I'm sorry about your father. He seemed a good man. With a dutiful son."

"Vengeance has consumed you. It's consuming them. I'm done letting it consume me. Justice will come soon enough." T'Challa explained.

"Tell that to the dead." Zemo simply said looking away again.

"The living are not done with you yet."

* * *

Back inside, Steve was unleashing an attack on Tony, throwing punches left and right. Sonya gained consciousness and saw Bucky, she slowly got to her hands and knees to crawl over to Bucky to make sure he was ok and stayed by his side while Steve was fighting Tony.

"You can't beat him hand to hand." Friday told Tony.

"Analyze his fighting pattern." Tony ordered as he deflected more punches.

"Scanning!" Few seconds later, "Countermeasures ready"

"Let's kick his ass." Tony said as he blocked Steve's punches and punched back.

"He's my friend." Steve said to Tony as he was knocked down.

"So was I. Stay down. Final warning." Tony warned.

Steve got to his feet and raised his hands, waiting to fight again, "I can do this all day."

They continued to battle, punches, blocks and grapples until Tony ended up on the ground with Steve pressing his shield into the light on his chest piece.

"Steve!" Sonya yelled from her spot next to Bucky.

Steve stopped and looked at Sonya, then back to Tony. He then stood up with his shield on his arm.

He then walked over to Sonya and Bucky and helped them up. Steve put Bucky's arm around his shoulders while Sonya supported Bucky's other side and with that the three began to walk away.

Tony was lying there, unable to move just yet as she saw the three were walking away.

"That shield does not belong to you. You don't deserve it! My father made that shield!" Tony yelled at Steve.

Steve just dropped the shield as Sonya stopped which made both Bucky and Steve look at her. "Get Bucky to the jet. I'll be right behind you" she said as Steve hesitated for a moment and nodded at her as he helped Bucky move.

Sonya looked back at Tony, it was quiet for a moment as they looked at each other.

"I'm sorry Tony. Not telling you was my way of protecting you" she explained.

Tony looked away and slowly got up, "When did you find out that your old best friend, killed my father… who was also your best friend and my mother?" he asked.

Sonya sighed, "I've known for a while. I was updated not too long after it happened"

"I trusted you! I am your godson and you betrayed me" he yelled.

Sonya's eyes started to well up, "I know" she said as she looked down, "And I am sorry for that. I was doing what I thought was right. But I know if you knew the truth, then you would have been obsessed with tracking him down. I couldn't let that happen."

Tony didn't say a word so she looked up again and continued, "Look, I know that you're furious with me, but you have to see it from my point of view…"

Tony looked at her, "Are you serious! Your point of view! How about you see it from mine!" he lashed out, "I am done with you!"

Sonya stepped forward, "Tony, please…"

"No!" he interrupted, "Just leave!" she said as she turned his back to her.

"But…" she tried again.

"Please, just go!" he said quietly.

Sonya looked at his back for a silent moment, she slowly turned and left the room.

* * *

 **RAFT Prison**

After the battle and some rest, Steve and Sonya devised a plan to get the rest of the team out of the prison.

Sonya teleported them to the prison roof where they got soaked by the rain and jumped down to a panel on the wall where she took out her phone and attached it to the wiring system.

"How do you know how to do this stuff?" Steve asked her keeping an eye out.

"Howard and Tony taught me a thing or two. And being an Agent helped… ALOT!" she explained as she continued.

"Camera's down and emergency lights are on" she said as they heard the emergency tones over the speakers, "We will only have a few minutes" she said as she teleported them into where the others were kept.

Sam and the others were looking around trying to find out what was happening, then they saw Sonya and Steve walk out of the shadows and smirk.

"Someone cash in a 'Get out of jail free' card" she said as she went up to Sam's door to inspect the material quickly to gauge how much power she would need.

"I am so glad to see you babe" Sam said as Sonya smirked and walked backwards into the middle of the room.

"Ok guys, go to the far corner and cover yourselves as much as you can. It's going to get a bit messy" she said. They did what they were told as she summoned her power, when she threw her arms out it sent out a massive shockwave shattering the cells.

She ran over to Wanda's cell to get her out of the straight jacket, "Come on. I'm going to need your help" she said as she took Wanda's hand to bring her over to the group.

They heard voices at the door, guards trying to get in, "OK, we don't have much time. Everyone squish in tight and hold hands." She ordered. "Wanda and I on the outside. I am going to harness your power too to help" she said to Wanda as everyone got in position.

"Do what you have to do" Wanda said.

Sonya nodded and closed her eye's, this was the hardest thing she would have to do in her life.

Just as the guards broke through the door, the group disappeared into thin air leaving behind green and red dust.

They land back at the Wakanda base, Scott feels dizzy and finds a bin or something to throw up in the others are fine and Sonya falls to the floor with exhaustion.

Sam is instantly at her side, "Hey, you ok" he asked.

Sonya smiled at him, "Yeah, just took a lot out of me." she said, "That's the first time I had to teleport so many people" she continued as Sam helped her up and to sit on a couch near by.

"You should have used more of my power" Wanda told her.

Sonya shook her head, "It's fine. We got here safe. I think we all need a long vacation" she said as Sam sat next to her.

She turned to him and hugged him tight, "I'm glad you're ok" he whispered into her hair.

"It was a long and hard battle. Now, I don't know about everyone else, but i want a nice hot bath and chill with this man." Sonya said.

Everyone nodded so a few of T'Challa's people showed everyone to where they would be staying for a while.

* * *

 **Avengers compound**

Rhodes was trying to walk while holding most of his weight by hands on the bar as Tony was in front encouraging him.

"That's just a first test." Tony explained.

"Yeah." Rhodes replied as he was near the end of the bars.

"Give me some feedback. Anything you can think of. Shock absorption. Lateral movement. Cup holder?" Tony said.

"No, I'm thinking about some AC down there." he said sarcastically but then he fell.

He sat there quiet for a moment of two until Tony spoke up, "Let's go. I'll give you a hand." Tony offered.

Rhodes swatted his hand away, "No, no, don't. Don't help me. Don't help me." he said as Tony squatted down. "138. 138 combat missions. That's how many I've flown, Tony. Every one of them could've been my last, but I flew 'em. To the fight needed to be fought. It's the same with these Accords. I signed because it was the right thing to do. And, yeah, this sucks. This is... This is a bad beat. But it hadn't change my mind. What do you think?"

Tony offered his hand to his best friend again and helped him up, "You okay?" he asked.

"Oh yeah." he replied then they heard a knock on the window.

There was a delivery guy standing there with a package, "Are you Tony... "Stank"?" he asked.

Rhodes pointed at Tony, Yes, this is-this is Tony "Stank"! You're in the right place. Thank you for that! I'm never dropping that, by the way." He said to Tony.

"Oh my god." Tony responded.

"Table for one, Mr. "Stank". Please, by the bathroom." Rhodes continued.

Rhodes went back to what he was doing with the Physical therapist as Tony went and collected the package from the delivery guy.

He sat down at the desk to open the package which contained a letter and a phone. Tony opened the letter and started reading it.

"Tony,

I'm glad you're back at the compound. I don't like the idea of you rattling around in a mansion by yourself. We all need family. The Avengers are yours, maybe more so than mine. I've been on my own since I was 18. I never really fit in anywhere. even in the army.

My fate's in... people, I guess. Individuals. And, I am happy to say for the most part, they haven't let me down. Which is why I can't let them down either. Lives can be replaced, but, maybe they shouldn't. I know I hurt you, Tony. I guessed I thought by not telling you about your parents, I was sparing you. Sonya feels the same. But... we can see now that we were really sparing ourselves. And I'm sorry.

Hopefully one day you can understand. I wished we'd agree on the Accords, I really do. I know you're doing what you believe in. And that's all any of us can do. That's all any of us should."

Tony paused as Friday alerted him, "Priority call from Secretary Ross. There's been a breach at the RAFT prison." Friday told him.

"Yeah, put him through." Tony replied.

Friday put the call through to him, "Tony, we have a problem."

Tony leaned forward, finger poised over the hold button, "Ah, please hold."

"No. Don't…" Ross tried to talk but Tony had already pressed the hold button and watched the red light blink and went back to the letter.

"So, no matter what. I promise you, if you need us, if you need me, I'll be there." he finished the letter and picked up the phone that was also in the package.

* * *

 **Wakanda**

Sonya, Steve and Bucky were in a lab, Steve standing up with Sonya and Bucky sitting down on the table, "You sure about this?" Steve asked Bucky.

"I can't trust my own mind. So, until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head I think going back under is the best thing... for everybody." Bucky explained as he put an arm around Sonya and hugged her.

They both stood up and Steve patted Bucky on the shoulder.

"We'll see you when we unfreeze you" Sonya said, Bucky just smiled and got into the cryotube as a lab technician activated it.

Steve was standing over by the window looking out to the beautiful forest and waterfall below.

T'Challa walked up to stand next to him, "Thank you for this." Steve said.

"Your friend and my father, they are both victims. If I can help one of them to find peace…" he explained.

Steve turned to him, "You know, If they find out he's here, they'll come for him."

"Then, let them try." T'Challa said as he too looked out the window.

* * *

The end for now.


End file.
